Kinnari veena

Along with the alapini vina and eka-tantri vina, the kinnari vina was mentioned by Śārṅgadeva in his Sangita Ratnakara (written 1210 - 1247 C.E.) By the late 19th century, the kinnari vina survived as a "folk instrument," in South Kanara and Mysore, India, and in the modern bīn or rudra vina.

The instrument shares its name with the kinnara, Buddhist and Hindu mythological creatures that are pictured playing stick zithers or tube zithers. The kinnari vina is traditionally carved with a bird emblem on one end.

Comparison of kinnari, alapini and eka-tantri vinas

The center gourd on a three gourd kinnari vina had the bottom cut off, which was pressed into the musician's chest while the instrument was being played. This created a "closed resonance chamber". The instrument shared this feature with the ālāpiṇī vīṇā stick zither and tube zither. The alapini vina had a single gourd, while the eka-tantri vina and kinnari vina might have a second gourd. The kinnari vina often had a third resonance gourd.

As music developed in India to include a 12-tone scale, ca. 700-800, the tube zithers developed frets. Pictures show both long (eka-tantri-style) and short (alapini-style) tube zithers. Some of these may also be called kinnari vinas. In 1400, the frets on the kinnari vina were attributed to Matanga (800 A.D.) the author of Brhad-desi.

In the early Mughal Empire, the kinarri vina had two strings, the bīn had three and the yantra or jantar had 5 or 6.

The instrument in modern times has a notched or carved stick mounted vertically on the tube, similar to the African mvet zither. On that instrument, the stick allows a musician to make quick minor modifications to the string's pitch, raising and lowering the pitch as it is placed higher and lower on the stick. In Indian music, this would help the musician switch quickly between tunings for different songs.