Arbajo

The arbajo is a type of Nepali plucked lute, long-necked and four stringed, now described as largely extinct and superseded by the smaller, bowed Nepali sarangi.^[1][2][3] Some of the few musicians still playing the arbajo are of the Gaine caste, in Lamjung District and Kaski District of western Nepal.^[1]

References

1. James McConnachie; Rough Guides (Firm) (2000). World music: the rough guide. Rough Guides. pp. 198–. ISBN 978-1-85828-636-5. Retrieved 24 March 2012.
2. Alison Arnold (2000). South Asia: the Indian subcontinent. Taylor & Francis. pp. 698–. ISBN 978-0-8240-4946-1. Retrieved 24 March 2012.. ... one of the most important of these rites is puja 'worship' performed to music of the sararigi and the arbajo, believed to be its predecessor.
3. Carol Tingey (December 1994). Auspicious music in a changing society: the Dāmai musicians of Nepal. Heritage Publishers. ISBN 978-81-7026-193-3. Retrieved 24 March 2012.. ...ancestry are not confined to the damai, but are prevalent in the folklore of other Indo-Nepalese occupational castes. ... always accompanied by the cow's hoof, which became the (now extinct) plucked lute arbajo (Helffer 1977:51)...