A newly invented Indian instrument called the Gajveena has stepped onto one of the world’s most closely watched platforms for instrument design — the Guthman Musical Instrument Competition at Georgia Tech in Atlanta, where it was named among the 2026 finalists.
Its creator, the Indian double bassist and composer Debjit Mahalanobis, describes the Gajveena as a marriage of two of the lowest-pitched instruments in the world: the Western double bass and the rudra veena, the deep, meditative instrument of the dhrupad tradition. Though it did not take a prize, Mahalanobis has spoken of his pride at showcasing an Indian-rooted design on a global stage.
The instrument is a reminder that India’s “classical” instruments have long been products of fusion — the sitar and sarod themselves evolved from older Persian and Afghan forms — and that the tradition keeps generating new sounds.
Sources: Gizmodo, Guthman Competition