Veena
The veena is the principal string instrument of South Indian (Carnatic) music and the emblem of Saraswati, the goddess of learning, who is always depicted holding a veena whose sound is said to be the voice of wisdom itself. The modern concert-instrument form, called the Saraswati veena, has a large resonator of jackwood with a second smaller gourd behind the neck, twenty-four fixed brass frets on the long fingerboard, and seven strings, four melody and three drone; it is plucked with a wire plectrum while the player sits cross-legged on the floor. Because it belongs to the goddess, the veena