Musical bow with detachable 'string' and playing stick or plectrum.
The villu is one of the oldest Keralan instruments, and is now seldom used. It accompanies songs for harvest celebrations. In Hindu temple festivals it is played by drummers for percussion performance, or villu tayambaka, now normally performed on ceṇṭa (chenda) drums. Four different pitches can be created on the lower part of the string. Primarily a rhythm instrument, the performance technique and sounds of the villu are rather similar to the those of the iṭakka drum (2001.173). The player presses the curved stringholder against his upper body, using the chest as a resonator.
