--- url: 'https://kalasudha.com/en-in/instrument/chitraveena' title: Chitraveena author: name: rajeevk url: 'https://kalasudha.com/en-in/user/0f961cccc99524ed' date: '2026-06-21T14:42:10+00:00' updated: '2026-10-25T18:58:19+00:00' type: product summary: 'The chitraveena (gottuvadyam) is a fretless Carnatic slide veena with 21 strings: a cylindrical slide gives continuous pitch and gamaka across the full…' tags: - Chordophones - Chitraveena image: 'https://files.kalasudha.com/styles/d12_standard/public/2026-02/Violin-Instrument-KalaSudha.jpg?h=d1cb525d&itok=tq_fXePi' published: true og: site_name: KalaSudha 'image:url': 'https://files.kalasudha.com/styles/d12_standard/public/2026-02/Violin-Instrument-KalaSudha.jpg?h=d1cb525d&itok=tq_fXePi' 'image:secure_url': 'https://files.kalasudha.com/styles/d12_standard/public/2026-02/Violin-Instrument-KalaSudha.jpg?h=d1cb525d&itok=tq_fXePi' 'image:type': image/jpeg 'image:width': '1200' 'image:height': '675' 'image:alt': Violin-Instrument --- [ Instruments ](/en-in/instruments) Chitraveena 1. [ Home ](/en-in) 2. 3. [ Instruments ](/en-in/instruments) 4. 5. Chitraveena Chordophones Chordophone / plucked slide lute Advanced South India; Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, with the modern lineage in Thanjavur district and Mysore Carnatic slide lute Fretless gamaka # Chitraveena (चित्रवीणा) The chitraveena (gottuvadyam) is a fretless Carnatic slide veena with 21 strings: a cylindrical slide gives continuous pitch and gamaka across the full Carnatic scale. Price Range £800 - £4,000 A few specialist makers in Chennai and Thanjavur build the chitraveena to order. Student instruments start around £800; mid-range instruments with refined jawari and full sympathetic strings cost £1,500 to £2,500; concert-grade instruments cost £2,500 to £4,000. Settle the layout and the slide material first. [ Request Quote ](/en-in/form/custom-instrument-quote?instrument_id=373) ## Explore the discipline Meet the musical tradition, its practitioners and ways to learn. - [ Chitraveena · Carnatic Classical ](/en-in/instrumental/carnatic-classical/chitraveena) ## History & Origins ### What is the chitraveena? The **chitraveena** (chitravina, or **gottuvadyam**) is the fretless slide veena of **Carnatic classical music**, and ours suits the serious student and the concert player. The left hand glides a cylindrical slide, the gottu, along six metal melody strings, reaching any microtone without frets, while plectra on the right index and middle fingers pluck them. The little finger strikes three drone-rhythm strings, and 11 or 12 **sympathetic strings** ring beneath: 21 strings on most modern instruments. ### What makes a great chitraveena The body follows the fretted [veena](/instrument/veena): a jackwood sound chamber, a long hollow stem with no frets or wax ledge, and a second resonator at the far end. A jawari bridge gives the harmonic bloom, and the sympathetic strings add a layered resonance to a gliding tone close to the human voice, a texture unlike the veena or the sarod. Small rocking of the slide gives kampita and a smooth slide gives jaru, the core of **gamaka**. Choose the layout (the standard 21-string instrument or the smaller navachitravina at B or C) and the slide (ebony, horn or PTFE). ### Tradition Sakha Rama Rao rebuilt it as a fretless veena around the turn of the 20th century; Gottuvadyam Narayana Iyengar expanded its stringing, his son Chitravina N. Narasimhan spread it, and **N. Ravikiran** (born 1967) made it a solo concert instrument worldwide. The [vichitra veena](/instrument/vichitra-veena) is its Hindustani counterpart. Chitravina is the older name: the *Natya Shastra* (200 BCE to 200 CE) describes a seven-stringed chitra vina. The name joins chitra (variegated) and vina. It joins the veena's body to the slide lute's continuous pitch, with sympathetic strings in the swarmandal manner. Dewitt Scott and Chris Morda suggest, as a hypothesis, that it shaped the Hawaiian guitar through an Indian in Hawaii around 1884; most histories credit Joseph Kekuku. By the early 20th century it had fallen almost out of use, a museum rarity. **Sakha Rama Rao** built a fretless veena and called the slide "gotu", hence gottuvadyam. His pupil Gottuvadyam Narayana Iyengar added octave and sympathetic strings. **N. Ravikiran**, son and student of Chitravina N. Narasimhan, restored the name. Recording from the 1980s, he became its most recorded exponent in full manodharma, touring and teaching worldwide, with a slide technique that gives full gamaka without the veena's fret push. Slide control, sympathetic strings and full raga without fret reference must all be learned together, so mastery takes years. A small, active community centres on Chennai and Bengaluru and reaches abroad through Ravikiran's teaching, and Chennai and Thanjavur makers, some also building veenas, make it to order. ## Construction & Craftsmanship ### Construction Process The chitraveena follows the Saraswati veena: a hemispherical sound chamber of **jackwood** with a thin wooden top joins a hollow stem about 81 cm long and 10 cm wide. The stem has no frets and no wax ledge, giving a smooth path for the slide. A second resonator at the far end, a dried gourd or a shell of wood, metal or fibreglass, adds warmth to the bass. Metal strings anchor at the right of the bowl and wind onto wooden pegs along the stem. Six melody strings cross the raised main bridge, shaped with a slight **jawari**, in groups of three, two and one: Sa with its lower octave, Pa with a bass string, and a bass Sa. Three drone-rhythm strings, tuned Sa-Pa-Sa, sit on a curved side bridge, and 11 or 12 **sympathetic strings** run below over a smaller bridge, tuned to the raga before each performance. The **slide**, the gottu, is a smooth cylinder of ebony or other hardwood, bison or buffalo horn, glass or steel: glass sounds warmer, metal brighter and more penetrating. Ravikiran adopted Teflon in the late 1980s to cut slide noise. Any roughness on its surface sounds against the string. ### Maintenance & Care - Keep the **slide** clean and free of chips or rough edges. A damaged slide surface drags on the string and produces unwanted noise. Glass slides are fragile; store them separately in a padded pouch, and replace a chipped or cracked glass slide at once. - Retune the **taraf** (sympathetic) strings to each raga before you perform. Check for false notes (string buzz or dead spots) after retuning; a false taraf string distorts the sympathetic resonance, so replace it. Keep a set of spare taraf strings in the case. - The **jawari** profile wears with heavy playing. Have us adjust it once or twice a year. Do not file the bridge yourself; an incorrect profile changes the instrument's tone and cannot be reversed. - **Jackwood** is stable across moderate humidity ranges but cracks below 40% RH or above 70% RH over extended periods. Store the instrument in a padded case with a humidity control sachet in dry or variable climates. - Wipe the **main strings** after each session. Replace one when its tone goes dull or it develops a kink; a kinked string cannot hold correct pitch under the slide. Replace all main strings together to keep tonal balance across the bridge. - The resonating **gourd** (kudam) is fragile. Avoid impact on hard surfaces. A cracked gourd alters bass resonance; send it to us for repair. ### Quick Facts Category Chordophones Family Chordophone / plucked slide lute Difficulty Advanced Origin South India; Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, with the modern lineage in Thanjavur district and Mysore Also known as Gottuvadyam (gotuvadyam), the name coined by Sakha Rama Rao; also chitravina, the older textual name Playing method Smooth cylindrical slide (gottu) of horn, hardwood, glass or metal, pressed against the strings from above String system 6 main + 3 drone-rhythm + 11 or 12 sympathetic strings; 21 in total on most modern instruments Fingerboard Fretless smooth surface, no wax ledge; the slide gives continuous access to all 22 shrutis Tradition Carnatic classical music; modern form shaped by Sakha Rama Rao, Narayana Iyengar, N. Narasimhan and N. Ravikiran Resonator Second resonator at the far end of the stem (gourd, wood, metal or fibreglass); built like the Saraswati veena ### Price Range £800 - £4,000 A few specialist makers in Chennai and Thanjavur build the chitraveena to order. Student instruments start around £800; mid-range instruments with refined jawari and full sympathetic strings cost £1,500 to £2,500; concert-grade instruments cost £2,500 to £4,000. Settle the layout and the slide material first. [ Request Quote ](/en-in/form/custom-instrument-quote?instrument_id=373) ## Technical Specifications Detailed specifications for the Chitraveena Physical dimensions Body & construction String system Playing equipment Acoustic characteristics Physical dimensions Physical dimensions specifications | Specification | Value | |---|---| | Total instrument length | 95–115 cm | | Body length | 40–55 cm | | Body width (max) | 25–35 cm | | Neck length | 50–65 cm | | Weight | 3.5–5.0 kg | Body & construction Body & construction specifications | Specification | Value | |---|---| | Body material | Jackwood (Artocarpus heterophyllus) | | Soundboard | Thin jackwood or rosewood plate over the sound chamber | | Fingerboard | Fretless, with no wax ledge; smooth surface for slide contact | | Bridge | Bone or horn main bridge with a jawari profile; curved side bridge for drones; smaller bridge for sympathetic strings | | Secondary resonator | Gourd, wood, metal or fibreglass, at the far end of the stem | String system String system specifications | Specification | Value | |---|---| | Main playing strings | 6 (steel or wound nylon), in groups of three, two and one | | Drone-rhythm strings | 3, tuned Sa-Pa-Sa on a curved side bridge | | Sympathetic strings (taraf) | 11 or 12; tuned to the current raga, or to Shankarabharanam, before each performance | | Total strings | 21 (20 in some sources) | | String range | Approximately 3 octaves across main strings | Playing equipment Playing equipment specifications | Specification | Value | |---|---| | Slide material | Ebony, hardwood or horn, glass, stone or metal; Teflon on N. Ravikiran's; glass warmer, metal brighter | | Slide dimensions | 8–12 cm length; smooth, chip-free surface required | | Right-hand plectrum | Plectra worn on the right index and middle fingers; horn or coconut shell | | Playing position | Instrument across thighs; gourd over right shoulder or on floor; slide in left hand above strings | | Drone technique | Little finger of the right hand strikes the three drone-rhythm strings as a rhythmic pulse | Acoustic characteristics Acoustic characteristics specifications | Specification | Value | |---|---| | Tonal character | Warm, sustained gliding tone often likened to the human voice, with jawari bloom and sympathetic resonance | | Tonal register | Mid to high, close to the Saraswati veena; tonic around G or G sharp, B or C on the navachitravina | | Sustain | Long; taraf sympathetic strings extend decay after each plucked note | | Optimal use | Carnatic alapana, tanam, pallavi and kalpana swaras; solo and ensemble with mridangam | | Projection | Moderate; suited to sabha concerts and studio recording, often amplified with pickups or microphones | ## Available Instruments Browse our curated selection of Chitraveenas Showing 1 instruments ### Chitraveena £800.00 [ Request Quote ](/en-in/form/custom-instrument-quote?instrument_id=373&product_id=49) [Get Details](/en-in/product/49) ### Looking for Something Unique? Contact us for custom-made instruments tailored to your specific requirements [ Contact for Custom Order ](/en-in/form/custom-instrument-quote?instrument_id=373) ## Your Journey to Chitraveena Mastery Follow this structured path from absolute beginner to accomplished performer 1 ### Slide hold and right-hand plucking Beginners in KalaSudha's [courses](/courses) start here, at Foundation level. Hold the gottu, the cylindrical slide, in the closed left hand against the melody strings with even pressure and no rocking. Pluck with plectra on the right index and middle fingers, damping with the third finger, and keep the pulse on the drone strings with the little finger before any melodic work. 20% 2 ### Pitch placement and scale patterns Place the slide for each note and microtone by ear, with no frets and no alternative fingerings. Practise the melakarta scale patterns as slide positions, checking each against the drone strings, and build the long reach the instrument needs, far longer than a violin or sarod. 40% 3 ### Gamaka through slide movement Develop kampita, the oscillation made by rocking the slide, and jaru, the glide made by moving it along the string, the primary gamaka of the chitraveena. All ornament comes from slide movement and right-hand stroke, the instrument's defining challenge; keep each slide even and quiet. 60% 4 ### Raga alapana and tanam Explore a raga through alapana and tanam with the full gamaka vocabulary, the chitraveena's strongest domain. Work on long slides from a single stroke so phrases sustain across registers, a technique N. Ravikiran has developed alongside vocal-style projection. 80% 5 ### Pallavi and kalpana swaras Study pallavi, a composed line developed through improvisation within a tala cycle, and kalpana swaras, improvised solfa passages. Here slide placement must lock to the rhythm at speed, with full command of gamaka, raga and tala; N. Ravikiran performs full ragam-tanam-pallavi. 100% ## Frequently Asked Questions What is the chitraveena, or gottuvadyam, of Carnatic music? The **[chitraveena](/instrument/chitraveena)**, also written chitravina and known as the gottuvadyam, is a fretless veena of Carnatic music. The left hand glides a cylindrical slide over the melody strings, and the right hand plucks with plectra on the index and middle fingers. Most modern instruments carry 20 or 21 strings: six melody, three drone-rhythm and 11 or 12 sympathetic strings. How can a beginner, a child or a returning player start learning the chitraveena, the Carnatic slide veena? Begin the [chitraveena](/instrumental/carnatic-classical/chitraveena) with KalaSudha online or in a workshop, at **Foundation** level. Foundation teaches the gottu, the cylindrical slide held in the left hand, and plucking with plectra on the right index and middle fingers. Children learn with us as well as adults, so ask us about a starting age and about a size for a younger learner. Players back after a long break pick up where they left off, because our [courses](/courses) run in levels. Your teacher reviews where you stand first. Where can I buy a chitraveena outside India, with international shipping, strings and service after the sale? You can buy a chitraveena from KalaSudha outside India, by quote or made to order, and we deliver worldwide. Every instrument leaves us packed for international shipping; ask us about cases and insurance. We service and repair any chitraveena, in any country, whoever sold it to you. Strings and spare parts come from us too. For help with your instrument after the sale, use the chat on any page or email . Gift vouchers, class sets for schools and flight cases for travel are also available; ask us. What is the chitraveena slide, the gottu, made of? The **[chitraveena](/instrument/chitraveena)** slide, the gottu, is a cylindrical block held in the left hand and glided over the melody strings. Reported materials include ebony or other hardwood, bison or buffalo horn, glass and steel. In the late 1980s N. Ravikiran adopted Teflon slides, on the advice of the scientist Hemmige D. Varadarajan, to cut slide noise. How many strings does a chitraveena have? A typical modern **[chitraveena](/instrument/chitraveena)** carries 21 strings: six melody strings, three drone-rhythm strings and 11 or 12 sympathetic strings, though some sources give 20 in all. N. Ravikiran's smaller navachitravina is usually tuned to B or C. Budalur Krishnamurthy Shastri kept the Saraswati veena's tuning and string layout and did not favour sympathetic strings, and many of his disciples follow him. How are the sympathetic strings of a chitraveena tuned? The sympathetic strings of a **[chitraveena](/instrument/chitraveena)** run below and parallel to the melody strings, over a smaller second bridge. Players usually tune them to the raga Shankarabharanam or to a raga they will develop at length, or set extra Sa and Pa notes for a tanpura effect. Some players leave this layer out altogether, as Budalur Krishnamurthy Shastri's disciples do. Who are well-known chitraveena players? Gottuvadyam Narayana Iyengar, a pupil of Sakha Rama Rao, shaped the modern **[chitraveena](/instrument/chitraveena)** by adding melody and sympathetic strings. His son Chitravina N. Narasimhan spread the instrument across India, and his grandson N. Ravikiran introduced the smaller navachitravina. Other names include Budalur Krishnamurthy Shastri, M. V. Varahaswami, Allam Koteeswara Rao and Gayathri Kassebaum. Is the chitraveena difficult to learn? The chief difficulty of the **[chitraveena](/instrument/chitraveena)** is placing the slide accurately for each note and microtone, with no fingering alternatives. Linear sliding is the basic technique, and the instrument is much longer than a violin or sarod. Because it is fretless, the slide produces continuous glides and microtonal inflection, the gamaka central to Carnatic music. Who revived the chitraveena? The modern revival of the **[chitraveena](/instrument/chitraveena)** began with Srinivasa Rao, who experimented with a slide on a tanpura in Thanjavur district. His son Sakha Rama Rao of Tiruvidaimarudur, who died in 1928, redesigned it as a fretless veena with seven strings. Sakha Rama Rao's pupil Gottuvadyam Narayana Iyengar raised the count to 22 strings, and one main string was later dropped, giving 21. Is the chitraveena an ancient instrument? Bharata's Natya Shastra describes a seven-stringed chitra vina played with the fingers and a cylindrical device called kona, and the 13th-century Sangita Ratnakara describes it in similar terms; the **[chitraveena](/instrument/chitraveena)** takes that name. B. Chaitanya Deva, writing in 1978, calls the early instrument a harp. The modern slide instrument took shape with Sakha Rama Rao in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Is the chitraveena the same instrument as the gottuvadyam? Yes: chitravina, **[chitraveena](/instrument/chitraveena)** and gottuvadyam name the same instrument, also spelt gotuvadyam and gottuvadhyam. Sakha Rama Rao coined gottuvadyam from his habit of calling the slide gotu; vadyam means instrument. Chitravina is the older textual name, which N. Ravikiran and other scholars restored to modern use, and mahanataka vina is a further recorded name. How does the chitraveena differ from the Saraswati veena? The **[chitraveena](/instrument/chitraveena)** follows the outer form of the fretted Saraswati veena: a hemispherical wooden chamber, usually jackfruit, joined to a hollow stem about 81 cm long. Its three drone-rhythm strings are tuned Sa-Pa-Sa, as on the Saraswati veena. Unlike that veena, it is fretless and played with a slide, and it adds 11 or 12 sympathetic strings below its six melody strings. How do I book a chitraveena (gottuvadyam) player for a Carnatic concert, an event or a recording? Through KalaSudha, you can book a chitraveena player for a concert, event or recording. Make your request on our page to [book Indian classical musicians](/book-indian-classical-musicians). Hear our artists before you book, in KalaSudha's [recordings](/releases) and [concert videos](/videos). Have more questions? Contact our support team and we'll be happy to help! Ready to start learning Chitraveena? 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