The vichitra veena is a plucked string instrument used in Hindustani (North Indian) classical music, similar to the Carnatic (South Indian) gottuvadhyam. It is made of a broad, fretless, horizontal arm or crossbar around three feet long and six inches wide, with two large resonating gourds attached underneath at either end. There are four main playing strings and five secondary strings (chikaris), which are played openly with the little finger for a drone effect. Underneath them are 13 sympathetic strings tuned to the notes of the appropriate Raga. The veena has a five-octave range. Two plectrums (mizrab) identical to those used for sitar are worn on the middle and index fingers of the right hand to pluck the strings, and a glass ball (batta) is moved with the left across the main strings to create melody. Coconut oil is put on the strings to minimize the friction of the sliding hand holding the batta.