The company KANAILAL & SONS is the most important supplier of Sarods of best quality and according to the opinion of many professional Sarod players KANAILAL & SONS has already replaced the company Hemen & Co. as the leading manufacturer of professional Sarods since approx. 2010. Both the sustain and the balance between the 4 playing strings are unmatched among the high class Sarods on the market today. Every serious Sarod player gets the best sound and workmanship at a moderate price with a Premium Sarod from Kanailal.

Body, neck and pegbox made of medium to dark brown stained tunewood with highly polished shellac surfaces, body covering with goatskin, chromed fretless metal fingerboard, 4 melody strings, 4 drone strings, 2 chikari strings, 15 sympathetic strings. Detachable upper resonator made of polished brass.

The Sarod is a plucked instrument that can be held cross-legged in the lap. A coconut plectrum is used to strike the strings, which allows a large variety of rhythmically complex strokes. The typical clear, metallic and long-lasting sound is produced by pressing the strings onto the metal fingerboard with the fingernails and not with the fingertips (as is the case with guitars or violins, for example). Another technical feature is the gliding with one finger along the strings on the fretless fingerboard. This creates all the ornaments and micro intervals that are so important in Indian music.

KANAILAL & SONS founder Bhowmick comes from today's Bangladesh and began his career originally as a carpenter. After the Indian independence and division he went to Calcutta and learned with the renowned instrument makers Hiren Roy and Radha Krishna Sharma. His own business in Howrah, the neighbouring village of Calcutta on the opposite bank of the Ganges, which he runs today with his three sons Subhas, Mintu and Ashutosh, has acquired a good reputation among musicians for high-quality sarods and sitars, especially since the turn of the millennium.

Kanailal & Sons has no direct relationship with the legendary sitar, Surbahar and rudra vina builder Kanailal & Brother, who closed in 1995 for lack of succession.

For tuning and stringing of the Sarod please see Tuning »