Sursringar / Sursingar Naba Kumar Kanji
The sursringar (also called sursingar) is an instrument for the meditative dhrupad style of North Indian classical music with a deep, majestic sound. It has the fretless metal fingerboard of a sarod and the large flat gourd body with wooden top of a surbahar.
The sursringar was invented in the 19th century as a modification of the older dhrupad rabab. It became obsolete by the mid 20th century and is nearly extinct today. We do not always keep sursringars in our store, but we are ready to order them any time upon request.
Stained toon wood, polished shellac surfaces, six melody strings, three drone / chikari strings, main gourd resonator cut in Kachua-style, closed wooden top, chromium plated steel fingerboard, rich inlay work of celluloid with stained brown engravings, base of neck fully carved in angur patta style, bone mankas, upper gourd resonator.
The angle at which the bridge surface (jowari) has been sanded down has great influence on the sound of every sursringar. If the curvature of the surface permits strong partial vibrations of the string on the bridge, a buzzing sound rich in overtones is created, which is called an open Jowari. Ravi Shankar made this sound popular and Westerners often feel that this is the typical sound of an Indian string instrument. A so-called closed Jowari, however, creates less overtones and the sound is clear, pithy and singing. Most Indian musicians prefer this sound today. If played regularly and intensely, the strings dig grooves into the surface of the bridges in course of time, due to abrasion, and thus change the relative openess or closedness of the jowaris. If sanded down later in a specific manner, the original sound can be restored or the instrument can be adjusted to a different sound.
Naba Kumar Kanji is the son of Dulal Chandra Kanji and runs his own workshop in the tradition of his father. In cooperation with professional musicians, Naba Kumar is striving to further improve quality standards since the turn of the century. Dulal Chandra Kanji was a former assistant of Hemen & Co., leading sarod maker of the 2nd half of the 20th century. Later he founded his own workshop in Calcutta under the brand name Oriental Musikraft, specialising in fine sarods and related instruments like the sursringar. Sarods made by Oriental Musikraft are played e.g. by Buddhadev Dasgupta.
Measure: length 140 cm, width 41,5 cm, depth 19 cm, weight: 3,8 kg
Each instrument is individually hand-crafted and might differ from our description.