What is a nadaswaram?

The nadaswaram is a South Indian double-reed wind instrument with a conical bore. It leads the periya melam, the South Indian temple ensemble, with the tavil drum. It belongs to the mangala vadya, the auspicious instruments, and is played at most South Indian Hindu weddings and temple rituals. It is described as one of the world's loudest non-brass acoustic instruments.

The shehnai is its North Indian relative: the nadaswaram is substantially larger and uses a simple double reed, where the shehnai has a more complex quadruple reed.