The ālāpiṇī vīṇā was a medieval stick-zither veena in India, with a single string and a gourd resonator. Later forms added more strings. The instruments became prominent in Indian music after 500 C.E. as instruments of court music. Alongside the eka-tantri vina and kinnari vina it replaced the harp-style veenas and lute-style veenas. The instruments were used in Southeast Asia, both mainland and island nations, and were recorded in sculpture and relief sculpture.

Although the stick zithers and tube zithers are very similar, it is possible that they have different origins. Early paintings of stick zithers in India date back at least to the 5th century C.E. The earliest currently known stick zither is in the Caves of Ajanta at the end of the 5th century.^[2] After a period of assuming that tube zithers spread from India to Southeast Asia, modern scholars have been trying to decide if the tube zithers might have originated in Southeast Asia and spread to India. Whatever the origins, Indian influence on musical culture in Southeast Asia is recorded in the archaeological remains of past civilizations.^[3][1][4]

Similar instruments today include the Cambodian kse diev and Thai phin namtao.

Instruments in paintings and sculpture are not generally labeled, and researchers have had to apply the names ālāpiṇī vīṇā and eka-tantrī vīṇā (one-string vina) to different instruments. Iconography can't show whether the rods or bodies are hollow, and researchers have had to look for clues in literature.

Instruments in surviving images that are labeled eka-tantrī vīṇā are generally tube zithers with wide tubes and a gourd attached to the top, the gourd held over the musician's shoulder and the other end past their hip, with a single string and no frets. Musician's are shown sliding the straightened fingers of their upper hand on the string, or holding a stick to slide on the string, and plucking with their lower hand.^[6]

Instruments labeled ālāpiṇī vīṇā tend to be stick zithers, held shoulder to hip with a gourd resonator that is pressed into the musician's stomach, chest or shoulder, the musician's upper hand normally held over that gourd with fingers wide to choose notes, the lower hand plucking the string.^[6] The body of the instrument may have been made of a 2 inch thick rod of red sandal wood or khadira wood, or may have been a bamboo tube.^[7][8] The earliest of these instruments were obvious stick zithers, the stick too narrow to make an effective resonating tube. Later instruments were as thick, the musician's hand barely able to stretch around the tube. Often in sculpture, the stick has curves.

The instruments are fretless, the earliest depictions showing a single string. The later instruments labeled kinnari vina we're fretted and show traits of both instruments, with gourds that are pressed into the chest and also rise above the shoulder.^[6]

In medieval artwork, a second lower gourd has been seen on both stick zithers and tube zithers. Artwork for the eka-tantri vina commonly shows a second carved resonator or gourd resonator near the instrument's lower end.

That is more rare in the alapini vina style stick zithers. Patrick Kersale identified two at the Bayon temple in Angkor, Cambodia, from the 13th century circus scene.^[9] Another can be seen in alcove 46 or 47 of the Kailasanathar Temple, Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu, India.^[10]

When playing the musician could press the cut off side of the gourd into their chest; in modern versions such as the Cambodian Kse Diev, the musician tightens and loosens the gourd to their chest to change tone. The player holds the instrument with their left hand; this limits his ability to move the hand to one stop on the string. While plucking with the right hand, the player uses their forefinger to lightly touch the string for more notes.^[3]

The instruments were recorded in sculpture and relief sculpture in Sambor Prei Kuk in the 7th century C.E., Borobudur in the 9th century C.E., the Pala Empire in the 10th—12th centuries C.E., Bayon in the 13th century, and Angkor Wat in the 16th century.

Instruments using the ālāpiṇī vīṇā's style of pressing to the players chest can be seen in to Southeast Asia. Examples can be seen in ruins from Malayan culture at Borobudur and Cambodian culture at Angkor Wat. Modern instruments related to it or using a similar half-gourd resonance system include the Cambodian kse diev, Thai phin namtao and Indian tuila (among tribes in Jharkhand and Odisha).^[3][1] These instruments have different features; some like the kse muoy have an extra gourd or the phin namtoa multiple strings. This may be seen as "evidence" that the ālāpiṇī vīṇā developed into other instruments.^[1]

At least one example of the chest-pressed Southeast Asian zithers has bee-n found in artwork with a second gourd, in Bayon. The instruments were played in the same style as the zithers with a single gourd.^[9] These instruments are thus linked to the ālāpiṇī vīṇā for the method of playing them, and to the eka-tantrī vīṇā for the additional gourd, a path that led to the rudra vina in India.

• India, 5th century C.E. Ajanta Caves, Cave 17. Musician plucking an alapini vina, a stick-zither style veena resting on his shoulder.
• Ca. 7th century C.E. Kinnaras playing alapini vina and chime cymbals, from Mammallapuram relief.
• Hindu. 650-700 C.E., Thailand, Ku Bua, (Dvaravati culture). Three musicians in right are playing (from center) a 5-stringed lute, cymbals, a tube zither or bar zither with gourd resonator.
• India, ca. 8th century C.E. Siva playing a stick-zither vina for Parvati in Ellora Caves, image in side passage of Kailash temple (cave 16)
• Siva Ellora Caves, cave 16, playing alapini vina, colored in
• India, ca. 7th-8th century C.E. A kinnara (?) playing Alapini vina at Kanchi Kailasanathar.
• India, 7th-8th century C.E. Figure holding an Alapini vina at Kailasanathar Temple
• 9th century C.E. Stick zither with resonator in Borobudur.
• 9th century C.E. Stick zither with resonator in Borobudur, side view
• 9th century C.E. Left, stick zither in Borobudur
• Indonesia (Java), ca. 900-925 C.E. Kinnara playing vina
• 9th century C.E. Kinnaras with cymbals and stick-zither veena; they are standing on tifa-like drums or pots. Bas-relief at Borobudur near Magelang - 1890-1891.
• Nataraja Temple, Chidambaram, ca. 12th-13th century C.E. Shivakamasundari (one of the forms of Parvati) playing an alapini vina, the resonator pressed into her shoulder
• India, ca. 12th century C.E. Hoysaleswara Temple statue of Saraswati playing a stick zither.
• India, ca. 12th century C.E. Hoysaleswara Temple. Saraswati playing a stick zither. The gourd at the top of the broken-off instrument is on her left breast.
• India, Keshava temple, ca. 13th century C.E. Saraswati playing a stick zither.
• India, Chennakesava temple, ca. 12th century. Saraswati with stick-zither vina
• Somanathapur, India. Chennakesava Temple, ca. 12th-13th century. Krishna dancing with a stick-zither vina.
• Saraswati with an alapini vina or possibly eka-tantri vina. The instrument has no apparent resonator except the thick tube of the body. Alapini vinas tended to have narrower tubes.^[7]
• Angkor Wat, 16th century AD, showing a musician playing a kse diev.^[13]
• Modern kse diev
• Phin namtao