This is a list of musical instruments used in traditional music of Assam, India.Folk instruments of assam
Name of instrument | Name in Assamese | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|
Pepa | পেঁপা | Pepais a wind instrument and has a major role in Assamese music. | |
Toka | টকা | Toka is an important Assamese musical instrument. It is made up of bamboo.[1][2] | |
Gogona | গগণা | Gogona is a popular Assamese instrument. It is made of bamboo which is vibrated to produce sound. | |
Xutuli | সুতুলি | Xutuli is used by Assamese people.[3] | |
Banhi | বাঁহী | Banhi or bamboo flute is popular in Assam.[2] | |
Been | বীন | Been is an old Assamese instrument[4] | |
Bhortal | ভোঁৰতাল | Bhortal is used in Vaishnavite culture of Assam mostly. It is made up of metal.[5] | |
Khram | খ্ৰাম | Khram is a long instrument.[6][2] | |
Madol | মাডল | Madol is popular in Assam.[6][2] | |
Bihutal | বিহুতাল | Bihutal is a small kind of patital. It is made up of metal.[6] | |
Tokari | টোকাৰী | Tokari is played in Assam very often.[6]।[7] | |
Xinga | শিঙা | Xinga is a wind instrument[2] | |
Khol | খোল | Khol is popular in Assamese music. It is a two faced drum, played with hands. It was originally brought from erstwhile Bengal and modified here with the emergence of Vaishnavism. | |
Doba | ডবা | Dobas are played in namghars. It is a drum beaten usually with sticks or hands.[2] It is also used in assamese bhaona. In ancient times it was used as a communication drum as well as to signify war or occasion. | |
Mridongo | মৃদঙ্গ | This is a unique traditional percussion instrument which used to be very common in the folk music of Assam played by native ethnic groups along with religious traditions and rites but is now very hard to find except in some selected areas due to emergence of the Khol brought from erstwhile Bengal. The Mridonga of Assam is quite similar to the Khasi Ksing if we compare them. It was considered a holy instrument. | |
Dogor[2] | ডগৰ | ||
Dotara | দোতোৰা | Dotara is a stringed instrument and has two strings.[2] | |
Nagara | নাগাৰা | Nagara is common between Assamese masses. It consists of two drums played together. | |
Dhol | ঢোল | Dhol is a two faced drum, played with a stick and a hand. Assamese dhol is comparatively smaller than other dhols but relatively produce loud sound. | |
Bor Dhol | বৰ ঢোল | It is a large aboriginal log drum played mostly by the Keot(Kaibarta) community of Lower Assam in various indigenous festivals & other occasions producing a deep base tribal sound. It has two sides, one of which is played by hand and the other by a (mari)stick. | |
Kahlia/Kaila | কালীয়া/কাইলা | It is a pipe (seven holed) instrument producing a high pitch sound. It is almost similar to the Khasi Tangmuri. | |
Joi Dhol | জয় ঢোল | It is a type of drum played mostly in the undivided Darrang region by the Keot(Kaibarta) ethnic group originally in Shamanistic origin dance and festivals. It has two sides, one of which is played with hand and the other with a stick producing a distinctive sound. |