How is a surbahar different from a sitar?

The surbahar is a larger, lower-pitched version of the sitar. Its gourd is cut flat and set horizontally, giving a shallower, rounder body than the sitar's upright gourd. Wide frets allow meend, a pulled glide, of up to an octave on a single fret, so the surbahar idiom rests mainly on meend, with little fretwork.