Although popularly known as Swarabat, its correct pronunciation is Swaragat.[2]Swara from Sanskrit connotes a note in the successive steps of the octave, ghat refers to steps leading down towards a river, while bhat in the language means scholar.[citation needed]
Construction
The painter Raja Ravi Varma featured the instrument in many of his works.
Like its Carnatic cousin, the veena, it has frets, a feature that also distinguishes it from their ancestor, the Yazh harp (ancient veena). Part of the chordophonic lute family of instruments, the Swarabat body is made of wood on which a skin is stretched.[3] On top of this skin, a bridge is placed upon which silk strings pass, which are plucked with a plectrum carved out of horn. There is a resonator and a stem, both made of wood. The resonator is covered with animal hide. The frets were made from animal gut (usually a goat). The head resembles a parrot or peacock. The tuning pegs are fixed to the neck.[1][4]
Sound
Although the Swarabat features a unique construction, the range of sound delivered by it is relatively limited. It produces a timbre similar to a bass rubab and bass guitar.[1]
Use and history
Swarabat or swaragat, 1903, carved with parrot's head
The Swarabat is today a very rare string instrument used in Carnatic music, that once featured prominently as an original staple in the Katcheri and Harikatha stage ensembles of royal carpet composers.[5] Musicians in the royal courts of Mysore, Travancore, Thanjavur kingdom and the Thondaman dynasty of Pudukottai favoured its unique bass tone accompaniment; students of the Saraswati veena were often proficient in playing the Swarabat.[6]
