Flautist Vinayak Honnavara, based in Mysuru, has integrated the musical instruments of Goddess Saraswathi and Lord Krishna in an innovative way. He has created tarabansi, which is a fusion of string (sitar) and wind (flute or bansuri) instruments. While Vinayak began learning flute in his childhood, he developed a penchant for sitar at an early age. As he grew up learning flute, his passion for sitar also became intense. A mechanical engineer by education and profession, his expertise in the field helped him create a fusion instrument blending the features of the ‘wind’ and the ‘string’. It took almost two years for him to come up with tarabansi, using a flute, string and wood. It was a long process. Initially, he finalised the design of the instrument, drew a map and sat with flute makers for hours to come up with a working design.
Though it was his dream instrument, he found it difficult to play tarabansi in the beginning. After much effort, he could produce amazing tunes from the instrument. An accomplished flautist and innovator, Vinayak Honnavara will be performing at the World Flute Festival to be held in Argentina from
September 20 to 24.