Ustad Asad Ali Khan,Pandit Hindraj Divekar,Ustad Shamsuddin Faridi Desai and Ustad Bahauddin Dagar(Dagar Veena-a variation of the traditional Rudra Veena) are the surviving exponents of the instrument in India.
Addresses
ASAD ALI KHAN 25 JOGA BAI JAMIA NAGAR-25 Phone:91-033-26985290
Ustad Asad Ali Khan 97, Bakhtawar Singh Block, Asiad Village, New Delhi-110049 Phone :+91-11-6493477 Fax : +91 -11 - 6492 825 E mail :asadali@bol.net.in
MOHIUDDIN DAGAR PARASHNATH BLDG RAJAWADI-400077 Phone:91-022-25061470
The Veena is a form of lute and as such, is classified as a chordophone.
The RudraVeena, also known as the bin (been), may be one of the oldest forms of Veena.
When describing the music of the Veena, Geetha Ramanathan Bennett said, "the essence and the greatness of Carnatic music lies in its delicate quarter-tones, graces, and sliding and slurring subtleties, which are not to be found in the music of any other part of the world."(www.geethabennett.com).
The highest quality veenas have the entire body carved from a single block of wood, while the ordinary veenas have a body which is carved in three sections (resonator, neck and head).
From it's ancestor, the been, Vichitra Veena has kept the flat bridge (jawari), the two pumpkin resonators (tumbas) and a body which is a hollow tube made of teak wood on which the strings are fixed at both ends.
The Vichitra Veena of the North and a rare instrument, was introduced by Ustad Abdul Ajij Khan, a court musician at Indore.