The sarod is an Indian classical musical instrument which probably originates from the Senya rebab , an Indio-Persian instrument played in India to the 19th century. It is a 25-stringed lute-like instrument, whose body is hand carved from a single block of tun (Indian Mahogany) or teak wood, with a steel fretless finger board. The bridge rests on the belly of the instrument which is covered in goat skin. It is played with a plectrum or jaba made of coconut. 4 of the strings are melody or playing strings, three are rhythm strings, and the rest are sympathetic and jawari strings, all made of metal.

Sarod representations have been found in carvings of the 1st century in Champa temple and also in paintings in the Ajanta caves. It also has a similarity with the Rabab of Afghanistan and Kashmir. The instrument was modified by Amir Khusru in the 13th century. A definite change was made by Ustad Ali Akbar Khan in shape of the instrument for improving the tonal quality.

Important Artists

• Mohammed Amir Khan
• Allauddin Khan
• Radhika Mohan Maitre
• Hafiz Ali Khan

• Ali Akbar Khan
• Buddhadev Das Gupta
• Amjad Ali Khan
• Aashish Khan

Contemporary Performers

• Tejendra Narayan Majumdar
• Prattyush Banerjee
• Anirban Das Gupta
• Partho Sarathy
• Brij Narayan
• Aditya Verma

External links

• All about the sarod
• The site of Sharan Rani
• The site of Ali Akbar Khan
• The origin & Antiquity of Sarod