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title: 'How old is the veena?'
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date: '2026-10-19T15:09:43+00:00'
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summary: 'The Saraswati veena descends from earlier lutes; its fixed 24-fret form evolved at Thanjavur under Raghunatha Nayak.'
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  FAQ · Instruments & artforms

# How old is the veena?

 Updated 19 October 2026

 The **[Saraswati veena](/instrument/veena)** descends from earlier lute forms, the kinnari veena in Sambamurthy's account. Its fixed 24-fret form evolved at Thanjavur during the reign of Raghunatha Nayak, and Sambamurthy credits the design to Govinda Dikshita, a minister at the court. Earlier veenas had fewer frets, and those frets were movable.



 

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 ###  Instruments (1) 

- [   Veena The Saraswati veena is the plucked lute of Carnatic music: a jackwood body, 24 fixed brass frets in wax and gamaka technique define its sound, for solo and…     ](/en-int/instrument/veena)
 
  

 

 

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