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#darbarfestival | The taus, meaning ‘peacock’, is a rare Indian instrument said to have been invented by Sikh warrior-saints of the 17th century. Listen to a recording of it here.
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The taus, or mayuri veena, is defined by shape as well as sound. The terms translate from Farsi and Sanskrit to ‘peacock’, the national bird of India. A curious veena family hybrid, it combines a sitar’s moveable frets with feathers and ornate paintwork. It may seem to be as much sculpture as instrument, but the sound is unique. Played with a sarangi-like bow, it produces a clear, unadorned tone, impressively similar to the cry of the peacock. Its inventor is reputed to have been either Guru Hargobind or Guru Gobind Singh, both 17th century Sikh warrior-saints.

Its heyday has long passed. Over the early 20th century it was largely replaced by the dilruba and esraj, its sturdier and more compact descendents. But the taus has enjoyed something of a resurgence in recent decades, as Sikh communities re-embrace Gurmat Sangeet [devotional music]. See a rare video of it in action here, played by Sandeep Singh:
-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgme4gUk7Hc

The video is part of ‘Musical Wonders of India’ curated by Darbar and the V&A Museum in London. View the full online exhibition at http://www.darbar.org/wonders & http://www.vam.ac.uk/musicalwonders. Special thanks to the exhibition’s donors: Arumugam Raveendran, Charu Shahane, Late Charanjit (Kugi) Vohra, The Helen Hamlyn Trust, Jagdeep Shah, Mohinder Virdee, Nishant Bhaskar, Nomadic Dairy, Ranbir Attwal, Sandeep Kandola, Satish & Divya Jeram, Seetal Mann, Sreecumaar, and Sandeep Virdee.

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