Aarbajo
The arbajo (Nepali: आरबाजो) is a Nepali four-string lute used as a rhythm instrument (Tālabājā (Nepali: तालबाजा)). It is the traditional instrument of the Gandarbha caste of musical performers, and is considered a companion to the Nepali sarangi. The Gandarbhas consider the aarbajo to be the "male instrument", the sarangi the "female." The aarbajo is used less than in the past, and been replaced by the sarangi, which was considered in 1999 to have superseded the aarbajo in common use.
Nepali entertainer Prakash Gandharva playing the arbajo. Gandharva is holding and playing the instrument like a guitar, a non-traditional method. Traditionally the instrument was held and played vertically, resting on the musician's lap. | |
| String instrument | |
|---|---|
| Classification | String |
| Hornbostel–Sachs classification | 321.321-6 (Chordophone with permanently attached resonator and neck, sounded by a plectrum) |
| Developed | Traditionally built by members of the Gandarbha caste of musical performers. |
| Attack | fast |
| Decay | fast |
| Playing range | |
The instrument has historically been played by Gandarbha performers at festivals, such as the "Chaiteti" festival. Although considered the oldest of the Gandarbha musical instruments, the aarbajo is in danger of dying out today. The danger for the instrument comes as young people migrate abroad, and the instrument is not passed to the next generation. Some of the few musicians still playing the aarbajo are of the Gaine caste, in Lamjung District and Kaski District of western Nepal.