malunga
The malunga is a single-stringed musical bow played by the Siddi of India, who are the descendants of East African immigrants. It produces two tones, an octave apart, and the knuckle of the hand supporting the instrument may be pressed against the string to vary the pitch. It is struck with a stick and, as with the berimbau of Brazil, the hand holding the stick also holds a rattle (in the case of the malunga the rattle, called mai misra).
malunga
- Field
- musical instrument
- Region
- Nepal
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
The malunga is a single-stringed musical bow played by the Siddi of India, who are the descendants of East African immigrants. It produces two tones, an octave apart, and the knuckle of the hand supporting the instrument may be pressed against the string to vary the pitch. It is struck with a stick and, as with the berimbau of Brazil, the hand holding the stick also holds a rattle (in the case of the malunga the rattle, called mai misra).
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Documentary evidence
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wikidata · Q3416144
In this article
Construction
Construction
The malunga has a gourd resonator which amplifies the instrument's sound. The placement of this rattle along the string also varies the pitch produced by the Malunga.
The bow is made of solid-core bamboo cane, and the string is made of three twisted strands of gut. The gourd resonator is made from a coconut shell and is a mobile part of the instrument.
Cultural importance
Cultural importance
The malunga is one of the instruments that is used in the religious practices of the Siddi people in India. This instrument is one of the few that are still in existence that can be played, though its scarcity is growing.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Nepal
Country
malunga is associated with Nepal.
Country
Films
• 2003 - From Africa to India: Sidi Music in the Indian Ocean Diaspora • 2004 - The SIDI Malunga Project: Rejuvenating the African Musical Bow in India
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Collectables
20,755 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
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