SVARAMANDALA.
THE Quanun, or Indian Dulcimer, is an instrument seldom met with,
and is to be seen mostly in the hands of Punjabi musicians.
There are usually twenty-one strings, some of brass and the rest
of steel, and tuned to the intervals of any of the Indian scales as
required bv the raga played. Occasionally gut or silk strings are found.
The kind of quanun here drawn is called Svaramandala, and is generall}‘
larger and better finished than the ordinary instrument of this name. It
is played with two wire plectra, worn upon the finger-tips of the per-
former. The capability of the instrument is much greater than might be
supposed at first sight. The performer holds in his left hand an iron ring
somewhat like a quoit, which he applies to the strings, so that it acts like
a quoit and thus enables him to produce all sorts of grace and embellishments.
