Violin is an integral part of Karnatic music. It is one of the foreign  instruments adopted by Indian music.

Watch violin performance by  Dr.M.Narmada

Though it is a Western instrument, in Southern India it is tuned in the Indian style. The violin is remarkable for its smooth sweeps from one end of the string to the other.

It is held in a position between the right heel and chest. The left hand moves freely and the fingers of the player have a range of two and a half octaves. Tone of the strings and the facility to play the embellishments peculiar to Indian music have made violin irrevocably Indian.

In recent times, north Indian musicians have also started using violin.