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Saraswati vina (Saraswathi veena) is the instrument associated with Saraswati, the goddess of learning and the arts. This instrument is common in south India and is an important instrument in carnatic sangeet. It is variously called simply vina, or veena, the "Saraswati" part being implied.

The Saraswati veena is the string instrument of Carnatic music.
It is the last survivor of many types of veenas created in South India.
Its form has been fixed definitely at the end of XIXth century and it has progressively replaced all the other veenas.
The neck and the main resonator of the instrument are made of the jackfruit tree, a hard wood, as well as the resonance table.
The neck is hollow, and on it 24 straight frets are stuck with a glue made of bee's wax.
The bridge is flat and is made of copper, which gives it a recognizable metallic colour.

Four playing strings are, as in the other veenas or beens (in the North) tuned to PA SA SA PA; those strings are played with the forefinger and second finger of the right hand. Three rhythm strings tuned SA PA SA are struck together by the little finger of the right hand.
The strings are stopped by the forefinger and second finger of the left hand.
The glissandos are made through the pulling technique (as on a sitar).
our three Vina records : Pichumani Yier

The saraswati vina has an interesting construction. It has a body made of wood, generally, this is jackwood. The highest quality vinas have the entire body carved from a single block of wood, while the ordinary vinas have a body which is carved in three sections (resonator, neck and head). There are 24 frets made of brass bars set into wax. (see "Fretting and Fingering the Vina") There is another resonator at the top of the neck. This is no longer a functioning resonator, but is mainly used as a stand to facilitate the positioning of the instrument when it is played. Because it is no longer functioning it is not unusual to find that this upper resonator may be made of acoustically neutral materials such as paper mache, cane or other similar materials. Unlike north Indian instruments like the sitar, the saraswati vina has no sympathetic strings. It has only four playing strings and three drone strings (thalam). (see also "Tuning the Vina") The main bridge is a flat bar made of brass. This bar has a very slight curve. It is this light curve which gives the vina its characteristic sound. A major centre for the manufacture of the saraswati vini is in Tanjore.

 

The Southern Veena was brought into use by Raghunatha Naik, a ruler of Thanjavur, consisting twenty four fixed frets. The body is hollowed out of a block of wood. The neck is attached to the stem having a weird figure like the head of a dragon. There are seven strings in all. The Vichitra Veena of the North and a rare instrument, was introduced by Ustad Abdul Ajij Khan, a court musician at Indore. It is of comparatively recent origin. It has a broad stem and six main strings are fastened to wooden pegs fixed to the other end. It is played by means of a plectrum on the right hand fingers.

The been or veena has always been the instrument of Indian classical music and more precisely dhrupad, and was traditionally studied by all dhrupad students until the XIXth century.
This string instrument does not look like any other. It has been developed to follow the precision of Indian classical mucic, and the quality of the long and slow moving (vocal type) glissandos that are so typical of dhrupad.
The duration of the note is incredibly long.
The been is made of a body, a hollow tube made of teak wood, on which the strings are fixed at both ends. The bridge is a flat bridge, multiplying the depth of the note's spectrum.
Metallic frets are disposed on that tube on a slightly angled axis. They are always movable (fixed by wax or strings) and so can be adapted for every raga (the notes of the raga are not fixed by equal temperament). Two resonators made out of pumkins are placed on each side of the instrument, not far from the two ends of the body.
Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar introduced important changes to this instrument, transforming it into a Bass instrument : the rudraveena.

The playing position is shown below. We see that the performer sits cross-legged on the floor, the small vestigial gourd rests against the left thigh while the main resonator rests on the floor. The right hand plucks the strings while the left hand frets the instrument.