Ektara
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The ektara is a one-stringed musical instrument used in the traditional music of Bengal, and used in modern-day music of Bangladesh, and eastern India.
An Ektara from Bangladesh
Parvathy Baul at Ruhaniyat mystic music festival, at Purana Qila, Delhi
Musician from Bangladesh playing the Ektara
The tradition of a holy man with a one-stringed veena was preserved in this 16th-18th century C.E. sculpture of Sage Agastya. The instrument has some resemblance to the eka-tantri vina, also one-stringed.
Baul
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The Baul are a group of mystic minstrels of mixed elements of Sufism and Vaishnava Sahajiya from different parts of Bangladesh and the Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura and Assam's Barak Valley an
Ektara
…called dotara (two strings), a name which also applies to another instrument of the same name. In origin, the ektara was a regular string instrument of Bauls and is plucked with one finger. The ektara is a drone lute consisting of a gourd resonator covered with skin, through which a bamboo neck is inserted…
A Baul from Lalon Shah's shrine in Kushtia, Bangladesh
Ektara, a common musical instrument of Bauls
Lalon, the most celebrated Baul saint in history, by Jyotirindranath Tagore, 1889
Baul singers performing Santiniketan, West Bengal, India