A single-stringed musical instrument made using bamboo and a gourd, popular with the Bauls, is the:

Explanation

The ektara is a simple single-stringed instrument. Its name comes from "ek" (one) and "tar" (string). It is made using a gourd or a hollow wooden body as the resonator and a split bamboo neck, and it is especially associated with the Bauls, the wandering mystic singers of Bengal.

The ektara has a round resonator, traditionally made from a dried gourd, a coconut shell or wood, covered with skin. A piece of bamboo is split into two arms, which are attached to the sides of the resonator. A single string runs from the bottom of the resonator to a tuning peg at the top of the bamboo. The player plucks the string with one finger and can change the pitch by squeezing the two bamboo arms, which loosens or tightens the string. This allows the player to produce a drone and a simple, rhythmic melody that accompanies the song.

The ektara is used by the Bauls of West Bengal and Bangladesh, who sing mystical songs of love for the divine. The great Baul saint-poet Lalon Fakir is often shown with the ektara. The instrument is also used by wandering singers, sadhus and folk musicians in many parts of India, including Rajasthan, Punjab and Maharashtra. Sant Kabir, Meerabai and other saint-poets of the Bhakti movement are often shown with an ektara in paintings, and Mirabai's bhajans are traditionally sung with it.

The Baul tradition of Bengal was inscribed by UNESCO on its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2008. The Bauls also use the dotara (a stringed instrument), the khamak and small drums such as the dubki.

In the Indian classification of instruments, the ektara is a tata vadya (string instrument).

Why not the other options?

• ✗Santoor is a hammered string instrument from Kashmir with about 100 strings.
• ✗Sarangi is a bowed string instrument with many sympathetic strings.
• ✗Sitar is a long-necked plucked string instrument with many strings and frets.