The Saraswati veena developed from Kinnari Veena. Prior to his time, the number of frets on the veena was less and also movable.' - Padmabhooshan Prof. It is said Govinda Dikshita father of Venkatamukhin, who was a musician and a minister in the court of Raghunatha Nayaka designed it. 'The current form of the Saraswati veena with 24 fixed frets evolved in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, during the reign of Raghunatha Nayak and it is for this reason sometimes called the Tanjore veena or the Raghunatha veena. It was not until the great Indian Carnatic music composer and Saraswati veena player Muthuswami Dikshitar that it began to be popularized as played horizontally. As is seen in many Hindu temple sculptures and paintings, the early veenas were played vertically. But with the developments of the fretted veena instruments, the yazh quickly faded away, as the fretted veena allowed for the easy performance of ragas and the myriad subtle nuances and pitch oscillations in the gamakas prevalent in the Indian musical system. The yazh was an ancient harp-like instrument that was also considered a veena. Veenas ranged from one string to one hundred and were composed of many different materials like eagle bone, bamboo, wood, and coconut shells. The veena instruments developed much like a tree, branching out into instruments as diverse as the harp-like Akasa (a veena that was tied up in the tops of trees for the strings to vibrate from the currents of wind) and the Audumbari veena (played as an accompaniment by the wives of Vedic priests as they chanted during ceremonial Yajnas). The word veena in India was a term originally used to generally denote 'stringed instrument', and included many variations that would be either plucked, bowed or struck for sound. Over the veena's evolution and modifications, more particular names were used to help distinguish the instruments that followed. Twisted bark, strands of grass and grass root, vegetable fibre and animal gut were used to create the first strings. Eventually, the archer's bow paved the way for the musical bow. The Jya ghosha (musical sound of the bow string) is referred to in the ancient Atharvaveda. In ancient times, the tone vibrating from the hunter's bow string when he shot an arrow was known as the Vil Yazh. The veena has a recorded history that dates back to the approximately 1700 BCE. 5 References in ancient texts and literature.4 Religious associations within Hinduism.They can be used to play either traditional music or contemporary music. Out of these the rudra and vichitra veenas are used more often in Hindustani music, while the Saraswati veena and the chitra veena are used more frequently in the Carnatic music of South India. The others include chitra veena, vichitra veena and rudra veena. The Saraswati veena is one of major types of veena today. One who plays the veena is referred to as a vainika. There are several variations of the veena, which in its South Indian form is a member of the lute family.

Also known as raghunatha veena is used mostly in Carnatic Indian classical music. It is named after the Hindu goddess Saraswati, who is usually depicted holding or playing the instrument.

Rudra veena, Vichitra veena, Chitra veena Veena Kinhal, song Haratanaya Sree, from the album ''Tribute to Veena Raja Rao'

Tamil veena music free