Musical Instruments of Southern India can be best seen as cousins of their North Indian counterpart. South Indian or Carnatic musical instruments are more about percussion instruments than melody. Some of the popular South Indian instruments are:

Morsing - Morsing is a Carnatic percussion instrument held in the left hand, shaped like prongs with an additional metal stick running through the length of the instrument.

Mridangam - The primary drum used to accompany classical performances is the Mridangam. The drum is made of heavy wood and the arrangement of the entire drum is very similar to the Pakhawaj.

Ghatam - Ghatam, the second percussive instrument is pretty much an earthen clay pot. The range of sounds is incredible and is used in classical music performances.

Kanjira - This is a South Indian version of the Tambourine. It has a snake-skin head and jingles. It is also used in Carnatic music performances.

Shankha - Shankha is a conch shell primarily used in religious music of Hinduism and Buddhism. The shell is got from the shell of a large predatory sea snail that lives in the Indian Ocean.

Thavil - Thavil is very similar to the North Indian concept of Dholak and Nagara. This drum is used to accompany performances of the Nadaswaram. It is played with thimbles, tacks and sticks.

Saraswati Veena -Saraswati Veena is the instrument of the Goddess of arts, Saraswati Devi. This is the South Indian version of the Sitar. There are 4 main strings, 3 drone strings and no sympathetic strings.

Violin - Violin has a very important role in Carnatic music. Its function is the same as the Sarangi or Harmonium. They both accompany the vocalist.

Tambura - Tambura is very similar to the Hindustani Tanpura. The sound box is made of jack wood and bridge is made of bronze instead of bone. It also serves as a drone in the background of Carnatic music.

Nadaswaram - This is the South Indian version of the Shehnai. It is a little bit bigger and has only 2 reeds compared to the Shehnai`s 4 reeds. This is also used as a snake charmer.

Udukkai - Udukkai is an hourglass shaped, membranous drum which is used in devotional and folk music throughout India. It is played with the hand and the pitch may be altered by tightening the lacing in the middle.

Venu - Venu is a bigger version of the Bansuri.

Thalam - Thalam is a finely tuned brass cymbals which serve as a generic supplement to accompany rhythms in Carnatic classical music.