These pic is sitar of my guru,Pt.Monoj Shankr.

　About Sitar

THE SITAR is a classical instrument of northern INDIA which has 18 to 20 strings, 20 frets and has an intriguing sound which soothes melodic ears and expands the thinking mind. Basically a hollowed out pumpkin with a neck, it is a medieval instrument which was popularized in the 60s by George Harrison (Beatles) and others.

Adapted from the Tritantri Veena, an instrument described in the ancient Indian Vedas, the Sitar itself is only 600 years old. It is made using a dried out pumpkin for the body, Tun or Rosewood for the neck, and a dried out gourd for the resonator at the top of the neck. The Sitar has 7 strings on the upper part of the body and eleven or thirteen sympathetic strings under the frets which create, acoustically, electronic effects like echo, reverb, chorus & sustain. To allow the sympathetic strings below the frets to freely resonate, the frets are arch shaped. The curved frets also allow more versatility in bending a note than on a guitar. Bending a note involves pulling the sting into a different position on the fret, thus tightening the string and raising the pitch. All the frets on a Sitar are moveable, being tied to the neck with string. The characteristic fuzz-sustain sound of the sitar is produced by the bridge, which is wide and touches the strings as they vibrate.

　About North Indian Classical Music

Hindustani Classical Music[North Indian Classical Music]is an Indian classical music tradition originating in the North of the Indian subcontinent circa the 13th and 14th centuries AD. Developing a strong and diverse tradition over several centuries, it has contemporary traditions established primarily in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. In contrast to Carnatic music, the other main Indian classical music tradition originating from the South, Hindustani music was not only influenced by ancient Hindu musical traditions, Vedic philosophy and native Indian sounds but also by the Persian performance practices of the Afghan Mughals.Outside India, Hindustani classical music is often associated with Indian music in general, as it is arguably the most popular stream of Indian music outside India.

　About Maihar Gharana

The Maihar gharana is a new instrumental khyal gharana, born in the early 20th century, but it has had tremendous influence on the Hindustani instrumental music in the last fifty years. It was born inside the Rampur gharana from which the actual forms of musical composition (gat) originate (Masitkhani gat for the slow compositions and Razakhani gat for the fast ones). Thanks to the work of one man that the style and the School of Maihar have taken shape : Baba Allaudin Khan, taught mainly by musicians of the School of Rampur, has developed a particular style and has known how to preserve it, teaching very well (and somehow very brutally) his own instrumental khyal. Most of his disciples have become great masters in the instrument of their choice - Ali Akbar Khan & Bahadur Khan on Sarod and Ravi Shankar on Sitar.