Drums of India

In your book, Our Wondrous World (Chapter 5), you learn that music and dance are ways of celebrating, praying, sharing stories and bringing people together.

Even a simple instrument like a drum looks and sounds different in different parts of India. Each drum has its own rhythm and its own sound. It is shaped by the local culture, traditions and the materials found there.

Your book shows many Indian drums: the tabla, dhol, dholak, mridangam, pakhawaj, nagara, khol, thavil, idakka, khanjira and dhama.

India also has different kinds of music, and different instruments are used for each. The mridangam is played in Carnatic music. The sitar and the shehnai are played in Hindustani music. India also has many dance forms that began in different states.