---
url: 'https://kalasudha.com/en-int/faq/instruments-artforms/how-is-a-surbahar-different-from-a-sitar'
title: 'How is a surbahar different from a sitar?'
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date: '2026-10-19T15:03:11+00:00'
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summary: 'The surbahar is a larger, lower sitar with a flat-cut gourd and wide frets that allow meend of up to an octave on one fret.'
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# How is a surbahar different from a sitar?

 Updated 19 October 2026

 The **[surbahar](/instrument/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.



 

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 ###  Instruments (1) 

- [   Surbahar A large bass sitar from 19th-century Lucknow, the surbahar specialises in dhrupad-style alap, with deep, sustained tones from a flat-cut gourd, wide frets and…     ](/en-int/instrument/surbahar)
 
  

 

 

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