The shehnai is also known as:

Explanation

The shehnai is also known as a "mangal vadya", meaning an auspicious instrument. This is because it is traditionally played at happy and sacred occasions, such as weddings, the birth of a child, temple ceremonies and religious festivals, and its sound is considered to bring good fortune.

The shehnai is a double-reed wind instrument of North India. It has a wooden tube that gradually widens towards the lower end, a flared metal bell, usually six to nine finger holes, and a double reed at the top, through which the player blows. Playing the shehnai requires great breath control, and many players use circular breathing to produce a continuous sound. In the past, the shehnai was played at the gates of palaces and temples, in the "naubat" or "naqqar khana", along with drums. It was mainly a ceremonial and folk instrument until Ustad Bismillah Khan made it a classical concert instrument.

Ustad Bismillah Khan (1916-2006) of Varanasi was the greatest shehnai player in history. He played at the Red Fort on 15 August 1947 and received the Bharat Ratna in 2001. The Sangeet Natak Akademi gives the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar to young artists in his memory. Other famous shehnai players include Ali Ahmad Hussain Khan, Pandit Anant Lal, Pandit Daya Shankar, Pandit S. Ballesh and Bageshwari Qamar.

The South Indian counterpart of the shehnai is the nadaswaram, a larger double-reed instrument, which is also regarded as a mangala vadyam and is played at temples and weddings with the thavil drum. In the Indian classification of instruments, both the shehnai and the nadaswaram are sushira vadya (wind instruments).

Why not the other options?

• ✗Tata vadya is the category of string instruments, such as the veena.
• ✗Rudra veena is an ancient plucked string instrument used in dhrupad.
• ✗Ghana vadya is the category of solid instruments, such as cymbals.