This article is intended for persons unfamiliar with this popular instrument from South India. It may not be of great benefit to experienced veena players - except to critique the accuracy of the material presented here. For those folks - enjoy the music clips, maintenance tips, and photos.

In texts dating back to 1500 B.C., the word veena seems to denote any stringed instrument. This includes the single-stringed bow, lute, zither, harp, or a multi-stringed bow. Therefore it is unlikely that the modern veena originated in ancient times, although the seed of its ancestry may lie there. There are references to a bottle-gourd veena as far as 500 B.C. Lute or zither-styled fretless veena-s have been depicted in temple art of the sixth century A.D. Fretted veena-s emerged between the tenth and eleventh century A.D.

* Web Sources of Indian Classical Music instruments include Veena, mridangam, tabla, kanjira, tambura, flute, sitar, gottuvadyam, violin, and sarangi.