--- url: 'https://kalasudha.com/en-de/instrument/pakhawaj' title: Pakhawaj author: name: rajeevk url: 'https://kalasudha.com/en-de/user/4add8741a490747f' date: '2026-06-20T22:03:12+00:00' updated: '2026-11-06T00:28:11+00:00' type: product summary: 'The pakhawaj is a double-headed North Indian barrel drum, the primary percussion of dhrupad and dhamar. It is played horizontally, in deep bols, with fresh…' tags: - Membranophones - Pakhawaj image: 'https://files.kalasudha.com/styles/d12_standard/public/mcp-imported/pakhawaj-362.jpg?VersionId=4_zf58621fa0f456059ae110919_f1093f67af18251e5_d20261105_m220814_c003_v0312049_t0046_u01793916494757&h=00546c34&itok=Tf_pF-gV' published: true og: site_name: KalaSudha 'image:url': 'https://files.kalasudha.com/styles/d12_standard/public/mcp-imported/pakhawaj-362.jpg?VersionId=4_zf58621fa0f456059ae110919_f1093f67af18251e5_d20261105_m220814_c003_v0312049_t0046_u01793916494757&h=00546c34&itok=Tf_pF-gV' 'image:secure_url': 'https://files.kalasudha.com/styles/d12_standard/public/mcp-imported/pakhawaj-362.jpg?VersionId=4_zf58621fa0f456059ae110919_f1093f67af18251e5_d20261105_m220814_c003_v0312049_t0046_u01793916494757&h=00546c34&itok=Tf_pF-gV' 'image:type': image/jpeg 'image:width': '1200' 'image:height': '675' 'image:alt': 'Pakhawaj: long barrel drum laced with leather straps' --- Hindustani instrument · Barrel drum # Pakhawajपखावज A pakhawaj is a double-headed barrel drum carved from wood, the main percussion of dhrupad, played across the lap with both hands. [Ask for a quote](/en-de/form/custom-instrument-quote?instrument_id=362) [Learn the pakhawaj ](#learn) ## Buy from KalaSudha £500 to £3,000 - Sold by quote or made to order - Packed for shipping and delivered worldwide - Serviced and repaired by us, wherever you bought it FamilyBarrel drum ShellJackwood, tun or sheesham TraditionDhrupad and Haveli Sangeet OriginNorth India Buy from us ## Choose your pakhawaj [Ask about a custom order ](/en-de/form/custom-instrument-quote?instrument_id=362) - Student ### Student pakhawaj From £500 Student drums come from North Indian workshops. [Ask for a quote](/en-de/form/custom-instrument-quote?instrument_id=362) - Professional ### Professional pakhawaj £1,000 to £3,000 Concert drums come from established craftsmen in Varanasi or Rajasthan. [Ask for a quote](/en-de/form/custom-instrument-quote?instrument_id=362) ### What to look for When buying a student or professional pakhawaj, compare the shell first, then the two heads. In Musical Instruments of India (1978), B. Chaitanya Deva describes a pakhawaj 60 cm long, with a right head of 16 cm and a left head of 25 cm. The right head carries the permanent syahi, so its skin deserves the closest look. Check, too, that the wedges and a cover come with the drum. KalaSudha sells student drums from North Indian workshops and concert drums from established craftsmen in Varanasi and Rajasthan. Ours suit the dhrupad student and the concert accompanist: ask us for a quote, or for a pakhawaj made to order. ### After you buy Delivered worldwideWe pack every instrument for international shipping; ask us about cases and insurance. Service and repairWe service and repair any pakhawaj, wherever you bought it, worldwide: ask us. Strings, parts and casesAsk us for strings, spare parts and cases, and about a size for a younger learner. Help with your instrumentAsk us through the chat on any page, or by email, for help with your instrument. Gifts, schools and travelAsk us about gift vouchers, class sets for schools, and flight cases and travel help. Read the pakhawaj care guide - **Bass-head dough:** Before each session, knead a small disc of wheat-flour dough and press it onto the centre of the left head; it should stick without cracking. Strip it off after playing and wipe the head dry, since dried dough hardens and damages the skin. The right head keeps its syahi and takes no dough. - **Tuning:** Check the blocks before each session, as transport shifts them. Tap each into place, then check pitch at four points round each head, adjusting a little at a time and letting the skin settle between changes; strike the gajra to fine-tune the treble. - **Humidity:** Keep 45–60% relative humidity, in a padded bag or hard case away from sun and heaters, with a humidifier in dry weather. Never leave the drum in a vehicle overnight: heat swings crack the shell and warp the heads. Humidity moves the wood, and with it the lacing tension. - **Lacing:** Check the tasma every few months, have stretched lacing replaced, replace a cracked strand before it breaks on stage, and carry a spare length. KalaSudha Academy ## Learn the pakhawaj with us [All courses ](/en-de/courses) Begin the pakhawaj with KalaSudha at Foundation level, online or in a workshop. You start with the core bols, the spoken syllables of each stroke, reciting each one aloud before you play it. We teach children as well as adults; ask us about a starting age and about a drum size for a younger learner. If you are returning after a long break, you start again where you left off. Our courses run in levels, and your teacher first checks where you stand. - KalaSudha-designed course [Pakhawaj ](/en-de/course/pakhawaj) Pakhawaj course online, prepared by KalaSudha: three levels of live lessons one-to-one or in a cohort, solo repertoire and Dhrupad and Dhamar accompaniment. - [Foundation](/en-de/course/pakhawaj/foundation) - [Intermediate](/en-de/course/pakhawaj/intermediate) - [Advanced](/en-de/course/pakhawaj/advanced) [Ask about learning the pakhawaj](/en-de/form/learner-enquiry?source_entity_type=node&source_entity_id=362) ### Your route, stage by stage 1. 1 Hand position and basic bols KalaSudha beginners start with this Foundation stage of our courses. Sit cross-legged with the drum across the lap or on the floor in front of you, bass head to the left. Study the core bols, ta, na, dha, dhi, dhere, tete and kran: the whole palm on the bass, whose pitch the heel of the hand bends, and finger shapes on the treble. Recite each bol aloud (padhant) and play each stroke slowly before you combine them. 2. 2 Tala cycles and theka Internalise chautal (12 beats) and dhamar (14 beats) by clapping and counting before you play. Learn to mark sam, the first beat, and the divisions of each tala, then play the theka, the basic stroke pattern, at slow, medium and fast tempos. 3. 3 Head preparation and tuning Prepare the bass head with fresh wheat-flour dough before each session and strip it off afterwards, learning how the amount changes the tone. Tune with a small hammer on the khudda or gatta blocks, checking pitch at four points, then fine-tune the treble with strikes on the gajra. 4. 4 Kayda and paran compositions Study at least two complete kaydas in your gharana's tradition, theme, variations and tihai, and learn parans, fixed full-handed compositions over several cycles, built from onomatopoeic syllables drawn from other drums. Build a repertoire of tukdas, relas and tihais that land on sam, reciting each in bols first. 5. 5 Solo performance and dhrupad accompaniment Structure a full solo from slow kayda development through mid-tempo variations to fast parans and tihais in chautal or dhamar. Practise accompanying dhrupad and dhamar singers, the rudra veena and surbahar, and dhrupad ensembles, building the listening the form demands. The instrument ## About the pakhawaj ### What makes a pakhawaj ### What is the pakhawaj? The **pakhawaj** is the double-headed barrel drum of **dhrupad**, the oldest surviving form of Hindustani classical music, and ours suits the dhrupad student and the concert accompanist. North Indian musicians also call it mridang. A close relative of the Carnatic [mridangam](/en-de/instrument/mridangam), it predates the [tabla](/en-de/instrument/tabla) by centuries. Its bols and solo repertoire shaped the tabla's and later North Indian drumming. Craftsmen carve the shell from one block of **jackwood** or tun, 55 to 65 cm long, swelling at the centre into two chambers that give each head its tone. The right treble head carries a permanent black **syahi**. Before each performance the player presses fresh **wheat-flour dough** onto the left bass head, to lower and deepen it. Braided leather lacing over wooden blocks (khudda or gatta) sets the tension. The player sits cross-legged with the drum across the lap, treble to the right. Each stroke has a bol: ta, na, dha, dhi, dhere, tete, kran. Both hands often sound together, which gives its dense boom, and unlike the tabla neither head sits on a metal shell or carries an off-centre syahi. The pakhawaj carries dhrupad and dhamar in long cycles: chautal (12), dhamar (14) and brahma tala (28). It accompanies voice and instruments, leads Haveli Sangeet at Nathdwara and has a large solo repertoire of parans and tihais. Its 20th-century masters include Purushottam Das, Gopal Das and Dalchand Sharma. Its boom fills a hall unamplified. ### History The Sangeet Ratnakar (13th century) describes the mridanga as the principal drum of its music, and temple friezes and medieval manuscripts show it in court and devotional use. In the 16th century it accompanied dhrupad at the Mughal court and in the temples of Vrindavan and Nathdwara. Gharanas formed in the 19th century. Kudau Singh of Lucknow (fl. 1860s–1900) codified powerful kaydas, parans and tihais and founded his namesake gharana; his students took them to Varanasi, Kolkata and Delhi. Nana Saheb Panse, whose line is strong in Pune and Maharashtra, left a melodic style of finely shaded strokes. The Nathdwara gharana, with a large devotional repertoire, leads Haveli Sangeet, the Pushti Marg temple music. Stage and temple shaped different priorities, and players still name their line by them. In the 18th and 19th centuries the tabla took over khayal, thumri and lighter forms, leaving the pakhawaj as the drum of dhrupad and dhamar: players train in the pakhawaj tradition itself, and few move between it and the tabla. Bhavani Shankar took the pakhawaj to concert audiences in India and abroad from the 1970s, with dhrupad singers and Hariprasad Chaurasia, and his recordings made it visible on today's stage. How a pakhawaj is made Craftsmen turn the shell from a single block of **jackwood** (Artocarpus heterophyllus), the preferred wood for its warm resonance, or tun (Toona ciliata); two current makers, in Miraj and near Delhi, use sheesham. They turn the block on a lathe and hollow it by hand into a barrel that widens at the centre, giving two chambers that shape each head. A concert shell runs 55–65 cm. Each head is layered skin over a hoop: a ring against the shell, the main skin and a woven outer ring, the **gajra**. The right treble head carries a permanent **syahi** of iron filings and rice starch, laid in layers and dried hard, with an open maidan around it. The left bass head has no syahi; the player presses on fresh wheat-flour dough before each session to lower its pitch. Braided leather lacing (**tasma**) runs hoop to hoop over cylindrical wooden blocks, the khudda or gatta. Striking a block towards a head raises its pitch, away lowers it, and strikes on the gajra fine-tune the treble. The maker sets the balance between the heads, and the player keeps it with a small hammer. ### At a glance Primary materialJackwood or tun wood; sheesham in some current drums Head systemTreble (right, goatskin, with syahi) and bass (left, with fresh wheat dough) Playing methodBoth hands; drum rests across the lap or horizontal on the floor Primary talasChautal (12 beats), Dhamar (14 beats) TraditionDhrupad and Haveli Sangeet Key figureBhavani Shankar Full specifications #### Physical dimensions Shell length55–65 cm Treble head diameter14–16 cm Bass head diameter22–26 cm Shell width (centre)20–25 cm Weight4–7 kg #### Shell and construction Shell woodJackwood (Artocarpus heterophyllus) or tun wood; sheesham in some retail drums Shell shapeBarrel (wider at centre, tapered at both ends) Wall thickness8–12 mm Surface finishLacquered or oiled Shell originVaranasi, Rajasthan, Delhi or Miraj workshops #### Head system Treble head skinGoatskin (3-layer) with gajra ring and permanent syahi Bass head skinLayered goatskin or buffalo hide; syahi on the treble, fresh wheat-flour dough on the bass Treble head diameter14–16 cm Bass head diameter22–26 cm Syahi compositionIron filings and rice starch paste (permanent layer) #### Tuning system Tuning mechanismKhudda or gatta blocks and leather lacing (tasma) Lacing materialBraided leather (tasma), run in a V pattern Treble head preparationNone; permanent syahi Bass head preparationFresh wheat-flour dough before each session Tuning toolSmall hammer, on the blocks and gajra #### Acoustic characteristics Tonal characterDeep, resonant, booming bass from the dough; full, warm, pitched treble SustainMedium to long (percussive attack, natural decay) Primary talasChautal (12), Dhamar (14), Brahma tala (28) Dynamic rangeFull-bodied to powerful; suited to unamplified performance Explore the music ## Hear the pakhawaj Hear KalaSudha's [recordings](/en-de/releases) and [concert videos](/en-de/videos). ### Players - [ Aditya Dip Pakhawaj player from Varanasi ](/en-de/artist/aditya-dip) Ask us to book a pakhawaj player for a concert, event or recording. [Book a pakhawaj player ](/en-de/book-indian-classical-musicians) Keep exploring ## More around the pakhawaj - [ Discipline Pakhawaj The two-headed wooden drum of dhrupad, its bass head dressed with fresh flour paste ](/en-de/instrumental/hindustani-classical/pakhawaj) Questions ## Pakhawaj: common questions Buying, learning, care and the instrument itself. ### What is a pakhawaj? A [**pakhawaj**](/en-de/instrument/pakhawaj) is a double-headed barrel drum, the main percussion instrument of [dhrupad](/en-de/vocal/hindustani-classical/dhrupad). Craftsmen carve the shell from a single block of jackwood or tun wood, and braided leather lacing holds the two heads. The player sits cross-legged with the drum across the lap: the right hand plays pitched strokes on the treble head, and the left strikes the bass head and presses it to bend the pitch. The drum predates the tabla by several centuries. Players who shaped it include Kudau Singh and Nana Saheb Panse, who founded teaching lines, and, in recent decades, Raja Chhatrapati Singh and Bhavani Shankar. [Aditya Dip](/en-de/artist/aditya-dip) plays pakhawaj with KalaSudha. ### How do I start learning the pakhawaj? Begin the [pakhawaj](/en-de/instrumental/hindustani-classical/pakhawaj) with KalaSudha at **Foundation** level, online or in a workshop. You start with the core bols, the spoken syllables of each stroke, reciting each one aloud before you play it. We teach children as well as adults; ask us about a starting age and about a drum size for a younger learner. If you are returning after a long break, you start again where you left off. Our [courses](/en-de/courses) run in levels, and your teacher first checks where you stand. ### What should I look for when buying a student or professional pakhawaj? When buying a student or professional pakhawaj, compare the shell first, then the two heads. In Musical Instruments of India (1978), B. Chaitanya Deva describes a pakhawaj 60 cm long, with a right head of 16 cm and a left head of 25 cm. The right head carries the permanent syahi, so its skin deserves the closest look. Check, too, that the wedges and a cover come with the drum. KalaSudha sells student drums from North Indian workshops and concert drums from established craftsmen in Varanasi and Rajasthan. Ours suit the dhrupad student and the concert accompanist: ask us for a quote, or for a pakhawaj made to order. ### Where can I buy a pakhawaj outside India? You can buy a pakhawaj from KalaSudha outside India, by quote or made to order, with delivery worldwide. We pack every drum for international shipping; ask us about cases and insurance. We service and repair any pakhawaj in any country, wherever you bought it: ask us. Spare parts come from us as well. For help with your drum after it arrives, use the chat on any page or write to . If you need gift vouchers, class sets for schools or a flight case for travelling to perform, ask us. ### What is a good gift for someone learning an Indian classical instrument? A good gift for someone learning an Indian classical instrument suits the instrument they play and the stage they have reached, so ask their teacher if you are unsure. An instrument of their own, or a better one, also makes a gift: KalaSudha sells every instrument by quote or made to order. For something smaller, ask us for a case, or for strings and spare parts to suit their instrument. Lessons make a gift as well. KalaSudha teaches online and in workshops, and beginners start at Foundation level: see our [courses](/en-de/courses). Ask us about gift vouchers. ### Which head of the pakhawaj gets the dough? On a **[pakhawaj](/en-de/instrument/pakhawaj)**, the left, bass head gets the dough. Before each performance the player presses a paste of wheat flour (atta) and water onto its centre, which lowers and deepens the bass, and strips it off afterwards; applying it well is a skill in itself. The treble head carries its own paste instead: boiled rice with manganese dust or iron filings. ### How do you tune a pakhawaj? A **[pakhawaj](/en-de/instrument/pakhawaj)** is tuned much as a tabla is. A hammer knocks the wooden blocks under the leather braces towards or away from a head for coarse changes in pitch. For fine tuning, the player strikes the woven gajra ring at the edge of the treble head; the gajra is an extension of the head skin, framed by a raised leather border. ### Which talas does the pakhawaj play? The core talas of the **[pakhawaj](/en-de/instrument/pakhawaj)** are chautal of 12 beats, which is the beginner's theka, dhamar of 14, sultal of 10 and tivra of 7. Less common ones include matta of 9 and pancham sawari of 15. These cycles suit its main role as the principal drum of dhrupad and dhamar, accompanying voice, rudra veena and surbahar. ### How do pakhawaj students learn bols? Every **[pakhawaj](/en-de/instrument/pakhawaj)** stroke has a spoken syllable, or bol. Students recite a composition aloud, a practice called padhant, before they play it, and a composition can be recited without the drum. The Punjab-Sikh lineage names three playing styles: sath, full-handed and the oldest; jat, with a full-handed bass and fingers on the treble; and gat, with fingertips and wrist pressure on the bass. ### What is the difference between the pakhawaj and the tabla? The **[pakhawaj](/en-de/instrument/pakhawaj)** is a single two-headed barrel drum, played lying horizontally with both hands. The tabla's bass drum is usually metal and carries a permanent syahi, so it needs no dough, while the pakhawaj bass takes fresh wheat dough before each performance. The tabla largely replaced the pakhawaj in khyal and lighter forms, and its repertoire and syllables, parans included, draw on the pakhawaj. ### Is the mridang the same as the Carnatic mridangam? No: in North India, mridang is a current alternative name for the **[pakhawaj](/en-de/instrument/pakhawaj)**, and the scholar Aneesh Pradhan warns against confusing it with the Carnatic mridangam. The two drums are close relatives. The mridangam uses a jackwood shell and a semolina (rava) patch on its bass head; the pakhawaj takes wheat dough on its bass. ### What is a paran on the pakhawaj? A paran is a fixed **[pakhawaj](/en-de/instrument/pakhawaj)** composition built on the full-handed sath technique. It often spans several cycles of the tala and closes with a threefold tihai that lands on sam. Tukras and relas draw on parans, and parans passed from the pakhawaj into the tabla repertoire. ### Can I book a pakhawaj player for a concert, event or recording? Ask KalaSudha to book a pakhawaj player for a concert, event or recording. The pakhawaj accompanies dhrupad singers and instrumentalists and has its own solo repertoire, so tell us which you need through our page to [book Indian classical musicians](/en-de/book-indian-classical-musicians). KalaSudha's [recordings](/en-de/releases) and [concert videos](/en-de/videos) let you hear our artists first. ### Who are the best-known pakhawaj players? Well-known **pakhawaj** players include Kudau Singh of Lucknow and Nana Saheb Panse. Kudau Singh founded his namesake gharana in the 19th century; Panse was a court musician at Indore, and his line is strong in Maharashtra. Exponents of the Kudau Singh gharana include Ayodhya Prasad and Raja Chhatrapati Singh. Bhavani Shankar (1956 to 2023) took the pakhawaj to concert audiences in India and abroad from the 1970s, with dhrupad singers and Hariprasad Chaurasia. ### Still have questions? Our support team can help you find the right answer. [Contact support](/en-de/form/learner-enquiry?source_entity_type=node&source_entity_id=362) Talk to us ## Tell us about the pakhawaj you want Ask for a quote on an instrument made to order, or about learning to play it with our teachers. [Ask for a quote](/en-de/form/custom-instrument-quote?instrument_id=362) [Ask about learning](/en-de/form/learner-enquiry?source_entity_type=node&source_entity_id=362) Stay close ## Keep KalaSudha close. Receive news of concerts, learning opportunities, recordings and the work taking shape at KalaSudha. - Concert news - ·Learning opportunities - ·Recordings and stories We respect your privacy. Unsubscribe at any time. Buy a pakhawaj from KalaSudha [Ask for a quote](/en-de/form/custom-instrument-quote?instrument_id=362)