In This Article
Historical Origins: Divergent Roots, Shared Soil
The sitar and sarod, though both pillars of the Hindustani classical tradition, trace remarkably different genealogies. Understanding their origins illuminates not only organological history but also the broader cultural currents that shaped North Indian music over several centuries.
The sitar is widely believed to have evolved from the Persian setar (literally "three strings"), though its development into the instrument we recognise today was a gradual process spanning the medieval period. A popular but historically contested tradition attributes its invention to Amir Khusrau (1253–1325), the legendary poet-musician of the Delhi Sultanate. Modern scholarship suggests, however, that the sitar assumed its mature form considerably later — likely during the 17th and 18th centuries — drawing from both Persian long-necked lutes and indigenous Indian instruments such as the veena. By the time of the Lucknow and Delhi gharanas in the 18th and 19th centuries, the sitar had established itself as a leading solo instrument of the Hindustani concert stage.
The sarod, by contrast, descends from the Afghan rabab, a short-necked, skin-bellied lute that travelled into the Indian subcontinent with Pashtun and Central Asian musicians. The transformation of the rabab into the sarod is largely credited to musicians of the Senia-Bangash lineage in the 19th century. Niyamatullah Khan and later his descendants, including Ghulam Ali Khan of Gwalior, are frequently cited as pivotal figures in this evolution. The key innovation was the replacement of the rabab's gut strings and wooden fingerboard with metal strings and a polished metal plate, giving the instrument greater sustain, volume, and the capacity for the intricate meend (glides) essential to Hindustani raga exposition.
Construction and Sound: Shimmer Versus Depth
The physical construction of the sitar and sarod could hardly be more different, and these structural distinctions translate directly into their contrasting sonic personalities.
The sitar is a long-necked lute, typically around 120 cm in length, with a large gourd resonator (tumba) at the base and, in many styles, a smaller gourd at the upper end of the neck. Its neck features movable curved metal frets tied with thread, which allow the player to adjust tuning for different ragas. A standard concert sitar has:
- Seven main strings — including melody strings (baj tar and jora), drone strings (chikari), and a bass string (kharaj).
- Eleven to thirteen sympathetic strings (taraf) running beneath the frets, which resonate in sympathy with the played notes, producing the sitar's characteristic shimmering, halo-like sustain.
The curved frets enable extensive meend — the player pulls the string laterally across the fret to achieve pitch bends spanning as much as a perfect fifth. This capacity for ornamental nuance is central to the sitar's expressive vocabulary.
The sarod is a shorter, heavier instrument, typically around 100 cm in length, with a waisted wooden body covered with goatskin on its sound chamber. Its most distinctive feature is the unfretted fingerboard, a smooth, polished metal plate (usually stainless steel or chrome-plated) over which the player slides their fingernails to produce notes. A concert sarod generally has:
- Four to five main melody strings, two drone strings, and two chikari (rhythm) strings — all of steel or phosphor bronze.
- Fifteen sympathetic strings (taraf), threaded through holes in the metal fingerboard, providing a rich, reverberant undercurrent.
The absence of frets gives the sarod an essentially vocal quality — notes glide into one another without the discrete articulation that frets impose. The resulting tone is often described as deep, meditative, and weighty, in contrast to the sitar's brighter, more sparkling character.
"The sitar speaks in light; the sarod speaks in shadow. Together, they complete the emotional spectrum of Hindustani music."
Playing Technique and Aesthetic Character
Both instruments demand years of rigorous training, but the physical mechanics of playing diverge significantly, shaping each instrument's aesthetic possibilities.
The sitar is played with a wire plectrum (mizrab) worn on the right index finger. The player sits cross-legged, cradling the instrument diagonally. Techniques include da (downstroke) and ra (upstroke), rapid taan passages executed across the frets, and the exquisite meend work that is the hallmark of gayaki ang (vocal-style) sitar playing. The frets provide clear note definition, lending the sitar a precision and brilliance well suited to both elaborate alap and virtuosic gat-tora passages in the faster sections.
Two major stylistic schools shaped the sitar's identity in the 20th century. The Maihar gharana approach, exemplified by Pandit Ravi Shankar (1920–2012), emphasised rhythmic complexity, structural innovation, and a brilliant, extroverted aesthetic. Ravi Shankar's historic collaborations — from the Concert for Bangladesh in 1971 to his work with Yehudi Menuhin — brought the sitar unprecedented global recognition. The Imdadkhani gharana (often called the Etawah gharana), championed by Ustad Vilayat Khan (1928–2004), pursued a radically different ideal: an intimate, voice-like lyricism that sought to make the sitar literally sing. Vilayat Khan famously removed the instrument's bass string (kharaj) to enhance melodic clarity, and his gayaki ang renditions of ragas such as Yaman, Bhairavi, and Shudh Kalyan remain benchmarks of emotional depth.
The sarod is played with a triangular plectrum (java) fashioned from a coconut shell or, in some traditions, from polished horn, held between the thumb and forefinger of the right hand. The left hand's fingernails — kept long and carefully shaped — press and glide across the metal fingerboard. This technique enables a seamless, portamento-rich style ideally suited to the slow, searching unfolding of a raga in alap and jor. The sarod's weighty tone also lends immense power to rhythmic interplay (jhala and gat) with the tabla.
The instrument's modern identity owes an incalculable debt to Ustad Ali Akbar Khan (1922–2009), son and foremost disciple of the legendary Allauddin Khan of Maihar. Ali Akbar Khan's recordings — particularly his Morning and Evening Ragas album on HMV (1955), one of the first Indian classical LPs released in the West — set an extraordinary standard of melodic profundity. His exposition of ragas such as Sindhi Bhairavi, Chandranandan (a raga he created), and Darbari Kanada demonstrated the sarod's capacity for both introspective depth and dynamic brilliance. Ustad Amjad Ali Khan (b. 1945), heir to the Bangash lineage of Gwalior, brought a more accessible, luminous approach to the sarod, developing innovations in tuning and technique and composing pieces that broadened the instrument's appeal to newer audiences.
Legacy and Complementarity: Two Voices, One Tradition
It would be a mistake to view the sitar and sarod as rivals. They are, more accurately, complementary voices within the vast expressive universe of Hindustani music. The sitar, with its fretted clarity, shimmering sympathetic resonance, and capacity for both dazzling speed and delicate ornamentation, occupies a space analogous to the bright, articulate upper register of the human voice. The sarod, with its fretless fluidity, brooding depth, and almost cello-like gravitas, inhabits a darker, more introspective tonal world.
This complementarity was most famously demonstrated in the legendary jugalbandi (duet) concerts of Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan, who were guru-bhai (fellow disciples) under Allauddin Khan. Their joint performances — including their celebrated recital at the Edinburgh International Festival in 1958 — revealed how the two instruments could converse, contrast, and ultimately converge in the shared pursuit of raga.
Today, both instruments continue to flourish. A new generation of artists — from Niladri Kumar and Purbayan Chatterjee on sitar to Amaan Ali Bangash, Ayaan Ali Bangash, and Debasmita Bhattacharya on sarod — carry these traditions forward, honouring their lineages whilst exploring new creative terrain. For the serious rasika, developing an ear for both instruments is not merely desirable but essential: together, the sitar and sarod encompass the full emotional and aesthetic range of Hindustani instrumental music, from the luminous to the profound.