Hindustani musicians favor the term tanpura, whereas dramatic composers tambura, tanpuri is a smaller variant sometimes used for accompanying instrumental soloists.

Let’s go into the history of tambura.

It is a long-necked plucked string instrument, originating from India, and found in various forms in Indian symphony. Generally, tanpuras as categorized as male, female, and instrumental tanpuras. The male has the lowest tuning and thickest strings. The female has the lighter choice of string thickness. The Tanpur which is small in size offer supports the instrumental soloists.

The male and female types have a gourd sound box.