This list contains "traditional" musical instruments used in Nepal. Instruments overlap with nearby countries, including India and Tibet. An example is the Sarangi, a common bow Indian instrument. Although the Nepali people have their own local variant Sarangi (Nepal), both instruments are known in Nepal. Some of the instrument are madal, maddlam, dholak. In such cases where instruments were imported in ancient times, or when both varieties are played in Nepal, both can be included on the list. New instruments of Nepali origin may be included, as well as modern recreations of extinct instruments. Modern imports such as the western guitar are not included.
There are hundreds of Nepali musical instruments and they are not standardized. When considering seemingly identical instruments, the languages, region of origin, musician's ethnicity and local traditions may affect the instrument's identity and how it is played.
Research avenues
Many Nepali folk instruments or lokabaja (नेपाली लोकबाजा) date back into prehistory or inaccessible history. General histories of musical instruments, such as History of Musical Instruments by Kurt Sachs, have little to say directly about Nepal. Sachs focused two chapters on India, and when addressing the ranasrnga, on Northern India. When instruments used in Nepal were included in Sachs' book, such as drums with hooked sticks (p. 157), the dameru (p. 159), the lute with a barb on its sides (160–161), the sarangi (226), and the ranasrnga (p. 228), the organizational focus was on India, or "North India."
JSTORE, an online repository of academic journals has articles. An example by Thomas O. Ballinger and Purna Harsha Bajracharya, Nepalese Musical Instruments, Southwestern Journal of Anthropology, Published by: The University of Chicago Press, Vol. 16, No. 4 (Winter, 1960), pp. 398–416 (19 pages). Thomas compares the instruments he found with that found in books by A. Campbell and Daniel Wright. Gives descriptions of instruments. History of Nepal, by Daniel Wright, Cambridge: University Press, 1877. Notes on the Musical Instruments and Agricultural and Other Instruments of the Nepalese, by A. Campbell, Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Vol. 6 (1837), pp. 953-963.
The Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments is a more comprehensive resource, with many instruments having been documented by ethnomusicologists. Random entries for Nepali instruments include Arbajo, Damaha, the Kingdom of Nepal [and its instruments and international music relationships] and the ghanta (both large "male" bells and smaller "female" handbells). This resource requires either a subscription (not inexpensive), access to a university library, or purchase of the $995 set of books.
The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music, Volume 5: South Asia, the Indian subcontinent does address Nepal directly in a chapter.
Museum and museum catalogs: In 1995, a local project was begun in Nepal, to document the folk instruments there. Ram Prasad Kadel began to visit different parts of his country and collect examples of instruments that he found. He talked to musicians and made recordings. In 1997, he founded the Nepali Folk Instruments Museum, which opened to the public in 2002 in Kathmandu. Kadel wrote two books, catalogues of some of the museum's instruments. Nepali Lokbaja or Folk Musical Instruments of Nepal was published in 2004. The Nepali-language book contains entries and images for 375 instruments. The language made the contents inaccessible to most readers outside Nepal. In 2007 Kadel's Musical Instruments of Nepal was published, an English-language book with 362 Nepali instruments and more detailed pictures. The book is the only book in the English language whose focus is Nepali folk musical instruments. Today his museum has more than 40,000 hours of recordings.
Membranophones Tambourines and frame drums Name in English Name in Nepali Description Ethnic Connections Town / Region Picture DaanfडाँफA frame drum of 28 centimeters diameter, covered with goat hide, held in place by bamboo lathes piercing skin and hooped across. It is sometimes decorated with peacock feathers on top.TharuChitwan District Daha tambourine. Dambaa or damphu or डम्फुA 45-cm frame drum made of the Nepali Koiralo wood and Himalayan goral hide on one side held in place by 32 bamboo lathes. It may be decorated by the carving of a Himalayan monal bird on top.Tamang Damphu () Drum, similar to large tambourine. Tamang people Dafa A tambourine-sized frame drum. Used in Bansuri Bajan or Khin Bajan. HringहृङA frame drum, with single goatskin head, of 45 centimeters diameter, with religious (Tantric Buddhist) symbols hanging on a chain. Originally used by Chepang people living in the mountains of Mahabharata mountain range, used for jharphuk (healing ritual) and tantra mantra.Chepang people Dhading District, Makwanpur District, Chitwan District Dhyāngro A single headed or double headed frame drum, may have a handle; used by jhakri (shamans) and Buddhist musicians. *Magars, Kirati, Tamang, jhakri (shamans), Tibetan Buddhist musicians Jhyaali Khainjadi A Khaijadi tambourine with mujura (मुजुरा) cymbals. It may have as many as four holes in its sides, to which the mujura cymbals are fastened so they jingle as the instrument is being played. Khaijadi or Kanjira or Khañjari A leather-covered tambourine covered on only one side, used in Nepali society since ancient times. 7-9 inches diameter x 2-4 inches deep. Deer or goat skin. The khanjadi is slightly smaller than the damphu. Traditionally used to accompany hymns and religious dance by Brahmin cast. The Magar and Gurung use larger drums. The Brahmin and Chhetri use smaller drums for devotional music. Chhetri-Brahmin society, Magar, Gurung Midwestern Nepal
Kettle drums and single-headed drums Name in English Name in Nepali DescriptionEthnic Connections Town / Region PictureDibya nagara or Dam nagaraदिव्य नगराVery large, copper, unpitched kettle drum (190 centimeter diameter), topped with cowhide and beaten with sticks. All but gone; two pairs remain at the Durbar Squares in Kathmandu and Bhaktapur. Played during ceremonies to Degu Teleju Bhahani, patron goddess of Newar people. Name of the Damai comes from association with this instrument.Newar people Damaha दमाहा Copper kettle drum, about 30 centimeters tall x 38 centimeters diameter, topped with cowhide, beaten with a single large stick. Part of the panche baja ensemble. Large: thulo damaha (ठूलो दमाह). Slightly smaller and less loud, used in supportive role: sauntal (बाउँताल). Small: sano damaha (सानो दमाहा). Damai Dugdugi Pair of single-sided goatskin drums tied together, about 18 cm and 12 cm across, played barehanded. Carried at the waist. Accompany "enthusiastic" folk dances. Played by young men while dancing for young women. Not the same as the dugdugi of Bangladesh, which is an hourglass drum. Tharu people Koncha-Khin, कोचा खिं Single headed drum, about 33-45 centimeters high, 18-22 centimeters diameter at head. Drum gets wider from head for about 3/4 of its length, then slopes inward. Base has air hole. Skin head tensioned by stings running from head to base and back. Head has black tuning paste. Hangs on left shoulder at waist, played with right hand (no stick). Accompanied by wind instruments. Mainly played in marriage processions and accompanied with baboocha, Tah and Baya or Muhali." Jyapu Tabala Two small drums of slightly different sizes and shapes, played as a pair. Tyampko A small Nepali kettle drum, a prominent member of the panche baja ensemble. The body of the instrument is made of soft wood, clay, copper or iron; the skin is cowhide. It is about 15cm in diameter and 15cm high, but this can vary as instruments are not standardized. It is carried on a strap around the neck, at the waist when standing, and played with two sticks. Damai Western Nepal Nagara, NaqarehCopper kettle drums, 45-65cm diameter. Old instrument, formerly player at "victory ceremonies." One remaining use is to celebrate Dashain (), at the Dashain Mela festival.Gajul, Rolpa District
Hourglass drums Name in English Name in Nepali DescriptionEthnic Connections Town / Region Picture Damaru Also called KantanDabDab. Small hourglass drum with bead strikers. Hudko It is found as much in northern India as in Nepal, a two headed drum made from wood and copper is 30 cm long body x 20 cm diameter at drumheads, with a narrow waist. It is hollowed out on the lathe; metal sometimes replaces wood. The tightened part houses a small hole allowing the "breathing" of the instrument. The goatskin membranes are attached to rings laced with a cord providing variable tension. It is worn over the shoulder and held in the left hand, which grips the instrument at the central part while varying the tension and therefore the pitch of the sound; the right strikes the head with a bare hand. Accompanies folk dances but also jâgar shamanic rituals. Damai Western Nepal
Long two-headed drums