Famous Musical Instruments and Their Exponents
| # | Instrument | Instrument Category | Prominent Exponents / Masters | Present Status & Key Updates |
| 1 | Sitar | String | Pt. Ravi Shankar, Ustad Vilayat Khan, Pt. Nikhil Banerjee, Shahid Parvez Khan, Shujaat Khan, Anushka Shankar, Pt. Budhaditya Mukherjee, Pt. Debu Chaudhuri, Pt. Niladri Kumar | Pt. Ravi Shankar was awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1999. |
| 2 | Tabla | Percussion | Ustad Zakir Hussain, Ustad Alla Rakha, Pt. Kishan Maharaj, Pt. Samta Prasad (Gudai Maharaj), Ustad Shafaat Ahmed Khan, Pt. Jnan Prakash Ghosh, Sandeep Das | Ustad Zakir Hussain was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 2023. |
| 3 | Flute (Bansuri) | Wind | Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia, Pt. Pannalal Ghosh, T.R. Mahalingam, N. Ramani, Raghunath Seth, Rajendra Prasanna, Pravin Godkhindi | Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia is a recipient of the Padma Vibhushan. |
| 4 | Sarod | String | Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, Ustad Alauddin Khan, Sharan Rani, Zarin Daruwala, Ayan Ali Bangash, Amaan Ali Bangash | Ustad Amjad Ali Khan was awarded the Padma Vibhushan. |
| 5 | Shehnai | Wind | Ustad Bismillah Khan, Ali Ahmad Hussain Khan, Daya Shankar, Jagannath, Bageshwari Qamar | Ustad Bismillah Khan was awarded the Bharat Ratna in 2001. Bageshwari Qamar is recognized as India’s first female Shehnai player. |
| 6 | Violin | String | Dr. L. Subramaniam, Dr. N. Rajam, Lalgudi Jayaraman, M.S. Gopalakrishnan, V.G. Jog, T.N. Krishnan, Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan, Kala Ramnath | Dr. L. Subramaniam and Dr. N. Rajam are global ambassadors of Carnatic and Hindustani violin. |
| 7 | Veena | String | S. Balachander, Badruddin Dagar, Veena Dhanammal, B. Doraiswamy Iyengar, Asad Ali Khan, M.S. Subbulakshmi | Traditional plucked string instrument prominent in Carnatic classical music. |
| 8 | Santoor | String | Pt. Shiv Kumar Sharma, Pt. Bhajan Sopori, Pt. Tarun Bhattacharya, Rahul Sharma | Pt. Shiv Kumar Sharma and Pt. Bhajan Sopori popularized the Kashmiri Folk Santoor globally in Indian classical music. |
| 9 | Pakhawaj | Percussion | Ustad Rehman Khan, Pt. Ayodhya Prasad, Gopal Das, Pt. Ramshankar Pagaldas, Totaram Sharma, Chhatrapati Singh | Key percussion instrument in Dhrupad genre and classical dance accompaniments. |
| 10 | Rudra Veena | String | Ustad Asad Ali Khan, Zia Moinuddin Dagar, Ustad Sadiq Ali Khan, Bahauddin Dagar | Ancient string instrument; central to Dhrupad music tradition. |
| 11 | Mridangam | Percussion | Palghat Mani Iyer, Karaikudi R. Mani, Palghat Raghu, Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman, T.K. Murthy, S.V. Rajarao | Primary percussion instrument in Carnatic classical music concerts. |
| 12 | Sarangi | String | Pt. Ram Narayan, Ustad Sultan Khan, Ustad Sabri Khan, Ustad Bundo Khan, Ustad Shakoor Khan, Ramesh Mishra | Pt. Ram Narayan was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 2005. |
| 13 | Nadaswaram | Wind | Sheikh Chinna Maulana, Rajarathnam Pillai, Neeruswamy Pillai, Thiruvizha Jayashankar | Traditional double-reed wind instrument played in temples and auspicious occasions in South India. |
| 14 | Symphony (Orchestral Conductor) | Western / Classical | Zubin Mehta | World-renowned Indian conductor of Western classical music; Padma Vibhushan recipient. |
| 15 | Guitar | String | Pt. Brij Bhushan Kabra, Pt. Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Jatin Mazumdar, Barun Kumar | Pt. Brij Bhushan Kabra pioneered the use of the Hawaiian guitar in Indian classical music. |
| 16 | Mandolin | String | U. Srinivas (“Mandolin” Srinivas), U. Rajesh, S. Balamuralikrishna, Snehashish Mozumder | Mandolin Srinivas pioneered and adapted the electric mandolin to Carnatic classical music. |
| 17 | Vichitra Veena | String | Dr. Lalmani Misra, Abdul Aziz Khan, Ahmed Raza Khan, Gopal Shankar Misra | Plucked string instrument without frets played with a glass ball slider. |
| 18 | Piano | Keyboard | V. Balsara, Adnan Sami, Anil Srinivasan | V. Balsara was a pioneer in incorporating keyboard instruments into Indian film and non-film music. |
| 19 | Ghatam | Percussion | T.H. “Vikku” Vinayakram, E.M. Subramaniam, Suresh Vaidyanathan, Giridhar Udupa | T.H. Vinayakram won a Grammy Award and was awarded the Padma Bhushan. |
| 20 | Harmonium | Keyboard / Wind | Pt. Purushottam Walawalkar, Appa Jalgaonkar, Pt. Jnan Prakash Ghosh, Manohar Chimote | Popular reed-based keyboard instrument used for vocal accompaniment. |
| 21 | Jal Tarang | Percussion | Seetha Doraiswamy, Himanshu Biswas, Jagdish Mohan, Ghasiram Nirmal, Pt. Ram Swaroop Prabhakar | Ancient Indian melodic percussion instrument consisting of water-filled ceramic bowls. |
| 22 | Surbahar | String | Annapurna Devi, Ustad Imrat Khan, Pt. Pushpraj Koshti, Bimal Mukherjee | Bass sitar used primarily for slow Dhrupad-style alap explorations. |
| 23 | Esraj / Dilruba | String | Pt. Ranadhir Roy, Alauddin Khan, Asad Ali Khan, Kanai Lal Dutt | Bowed string instrument popular in Bengal and Sikh devotional Gurbani Kirtan. |
| 24 | Mohan Veena | String | Pt. Vishwa Mohan Bhatt | Modified slide guitar invented by Pt. Vishwa Mohan Bhatt (Grammy Award winner in 1993). |
| 25 | Kanjira | Percussion | Pudukkottai Dakshinamurthy Pillai, G. Harishankar, V. Selvaganesh | Frame drum percussion instrument of South India used in Carnatic music. |
| 26 | Santoor / Sitar (Sitar-Santoor Hybrid – Sitarod) | String | Pt. Debojyoti Mishra, Pt. Prateek Chaudhuri | Modern adapted string instrument variations in Indian classical music. |