Description

The Santoor is an Instrument with approximately 100 strings which originated in the Himalayan Valley of Kashmir. Originally known as “Shata Tantri Veena” (Sanskrit version of one hundred strings), which has close relatives in British and American “Hammer Dulcimer”, Chinese “Yang Chin” and the east European “Cimbalom”. Santoor, which originated from Vedic “Vana Veena”, is characteristic of Kashmir Valley and is neither seen or played any where played. The “Vana Veena” also had strings and was played with sticks. In the orient the fundamentals of this instrument is no doubt very ancient. It seems that the origin goes back to Assyrians and Babylonians. An instrument, which at the same breath could give the audiences a feel of melody and rhythm naturally, had much to offer in terms of musicality. The emergence of Santoor as a popular Indian classical instrument has of course been due to the presence of stalwart Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma. However, its roots are necessarily from the Durbars of Sufi heretics of Kashmir, where its folk origins were interspersed with Hindustani classical music.