ਨਗਾਰਾ

What does nagara mean in Punjabi? Nagara (ਨਗਾਰਾ) is a large kettledrum, a bowl shaped drum with a hide head played with sticks, usually as a pair of two different sizes, and in Punjab it is best known as the drum of the gurdwara and as the Ranjit Nagara, the drum of victory.

What does nagara mean in Punjabi?

The Sikh Encyclopedia explains that nagara is the Punjabi form of the Persian naqqarah, meaning a kettledrum, and that a kettledrum was a symbol of royalty. Grinnell College, in its musical instrument collection, describes the nagara in the same way: a pair of kettledrum membranophones of the Indian subcontinent, used from royal courts and religious shrines to folk dances, struck with two stick beaters, the larger drum of the pair sounding lower and more resonant than the smaller. SikhiWiki adds the Punjabi pairing called Joh Nagara: the bigger drum is made of copper and covered with buffalo skin for a heavy, deep sound, while the smaller is made of steel and covered with camel skin for a lighter sound.

What is the Ranjit Nagara?

The Sikh Encyclopedia records that in 1684 Guru Gobind Singh had a kettledrum installed at Anandpur at his bidding, through his diwan Nand Chand, and named it Ranjit Nagara, literally the drum of victory in the battlefield. It was usually beaten when the Guru went out for the chase, and its thunderous roll alarmed the local hill raja. SikhiWiki gives the same year and adds that the drum was beaten every day at the Keshgarh Sahib throne at Anandpur Sahib, as a declaration of the sovereignty of the Khalsa, and that Nishan, the flag, and Nagara, the drum, remain an integral part of a Takht and of gurdwaras.

Where is the nagara heard today?

The Sikh Encyclopedia says the kettledrum became part of Sikh tradition and continues to this day: almost every gurdwara maintains a large kettledrum, called dhaunsa or nagara, which is beaten during ardas, the supplicatory prayer, to punctuate certain lines, and as a call for meals in the Guru ka Langar. SikhiWiki describes nagaras as huge drums, about two to three feet across and played with sticks, with the special Ranjit Nagara up to five feet across: once war drums that also heralded kings and princes, they are now played on festive occasions.