Ektara is an Indian Musical instrument, also known as iktar, yaktarogopichand, ektar, etc, made with a single string, played traditionally, not only in India, but also in neighbouring countries such as Bangladesh and Pakistan, besides
countries like Egypt, mostly used by wandering singers, minstrels and bards from India, who play the string with a single finger to match sometimes what they are singing as they walk along, the instrument’s single string stretched over an
animal skin clad mount made out of dried pumkin, a kind of guard, wooden ball or a coconut shell, and with a pole neck or bamboo cane neck properly split for the purpose.
By pressing gently the two E halves of the neck the player moderates the pitch as the string tends to lose by that action, the tunes modulated accordingly, bringing out a music of enjoyable form, while the neck part or any other portion of
the instrument not having any mark or calibration to guide the player, the entire exercise comes from the practice and talent of the musician or player of the instrument.There are different types of ektara, such as Soprano, bass, tenor etc,
while the bass ektara, which is also called ‘dotara’ has two strings as the name itself denotes that.
Design
Ektara is a single string fixed in a stretched condition, between a ball like head made out of animal skin bound round object, which can be a dried guard or coconut and a pole neck on the other side with a gadget or knob, to tighten the
string while fixing, while both these ends are held by a split bamboo or seasoned wood which will not break, the player making sound with one finger, while he modulates the sound resonance by applying pressure on the bow like middle portion
of the bamboo structure thereby reducing the tightness of the string a little bit, the sound made suitable for the music requirements. Bengali Ektara, like theEktara instruments made in few other regions, is made out of a half of a dried
gourd shell functioning as the sound-box and a metal string stretching` right through the middle of the shell and at the top, the string is fixed to a knob, which adjusts the tension the of the string.
Playing Positions
The player of Ektara operates the instrument with a simultaneous plucking and giving a gong, to match the rhythm of the music he plays, the Ektaragiving the sound with a musical resonance and the GhatiBaya giving a bell sound, these
instruments create music together forming the appropriate musical instruments particularly to accomplish Devotional and Deolati musical traditions.
Notable Players
SainZahoor , also known as SainZahur Ahmad is a well respected Sufi musician hailing from Pakistan, who has lived most of his life rendering devotional music in Sufi shrines, and he was not known to the world until till very recently,
however in 2006 when he had the opportunity to be nominated for the BBC World Music awards authorities hearing his name on word of mouth, his fame came to limelight as he was awarded the ‘best BBC voice of the year 2006’,SainZahoor carries
Sindhi honorific title Sain which is also spelt as Saeen or Saiyan, while his name Zahoor can be spelt asZahur too. SainZukur was Born in 1937 in the Sahiwal region in the province of Punjab, which is part of Pakistan, as the youngest child
in a family of peasants involved in farming operations, when at the age of ten he felt that a divine hand beckoned him to sing in Sufi shrines, he started travelling around visiting Sufi shrines situated in Sindh and around areas of Punjab,
making a living through singing.
One of the prominent and popular indigenous sports of the state of Meghalaya is archery. Archery is an intrinsic part of the culture of the local people, and plays a principal role in their festivals. The bows and gut are made of a special
bamboo, and are of varying lengths and sizes. The arrows are made from special reeds, topped with a pointed metal cap, using eagle feathers. The feathers are interwoven near the neck on four sides, this part of arrow – making being the
domain of the women.
The target is made from a certain kind of grass, and is circular in shape, 8 to 10 inches high and 3 inches in diameter. The target is affixed on a thin bamboo pole, at a height of 3 1/2 ft from the ground. A notch is made at the base of the pole
and any arrow hitting below the notch, is not counted for points. The distance exceeds 30 meters. There are three ways of conducting this contest: individual competition, team com having used spears. Archery seemed to have a place in all culture because earlier evolutions of mankind used this system to hunt down their prey. As they evolved, the spears became sharper and precise until they became arrows and they could
aim at the prey with more accuracy. When kingdoms rose and dynasties expanded, archery naturally followed into warfare. As far as the Hindu Mythology goes, both the great epics of competition,
and fast and slow shooting.
Origins and History of the Game
There is no such culture in the world including Greece, Egypt, India, Japan, China, America that has no reference to the existence of bows and archery. In different eras though, in place of arrows, there is a reference of people Mahabharata and the Ramayana have references to archers and talks of great archers including Parshurama, Siva, Rama, Arjun, Karn and Lakshman. However, with the advent of gunpowder, this stopped being used in war because gun, rifles and
shooters were many cycles advanced when compared to the system of the bow and arrow and slowly this started being known only as a game. The origin can be tracked down to 1840 when archery was dug from the dark and restored to its original sheen and glory and was established a sport in 1850s and
1860s.
Indian Traditional sports
Dimension and Measurements
The length and weight of the bow, arrow and distance between the archer and the target are all important parameters and come in accurate measures. The coordinates of the bow and arrow are internally dependent on each other. These have to place the bow at the right shoulder level and pull the string back to the position that the individual is comfortable with. The arrow is then measured from that point and it should comfortably reach the string of the bow. It is always
better to measure the arrow after stretching the string of suit the needs of archer and the method to choose this is explained here. The archer has to the bow as this gives the exact length. There are options where arrow is uncut and individuals can choose the bow of their chosen weight and then pull the string and make out the arrows depending on this. Caution has to be taken in the case
of using long or short arrows as these could disrupt the accuracy of the shooting. The targets could either be 40 cm, 60 cm, 80 cm, or 122 cm.
Rules of Game
The game of archery could either be held within an auditorium or in the outdoors. 18m to 25 m are the general targets for the shooting games conducted within while for those outside these could start from 30 and go on till 90 m for men and
70 m for women. As far as the Olympic Games are concerned the standards are set at 70 m. The key to the competition is the time limit by when the archers have to finish shooting a prescribed number of arrows. For the indoor games, the
archers have to target 3 arrows for 2 minutes, and for the outdoor version, while the same norm exists for the shorter range, they get an additional 4 minutes to shoot out 6 arrows at the more distanced targets. The shooters are given
instructions to start or stop using whistles or lightning or by waving flags. None of the participants are allowed to even pick their arrows before they hear the signals and they are supposed to put back the arrows that have not been aimed
at when the whistle is blown. They have to stop when instructed and in the untoward event of damaging the archery equipment of fellow archers should offer to pay up for the expenses. Participants trying to draw the attention of others or
diverting them is a strict no as per the rules of the game.
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