Ekanda Veena is made from a Single log of wood.The unique hollow, scalloped fret board is known as the dandi and contains 24 frets, or mettu, often made from gunmetal, tainless steel or bronze. The seven strings are of steel manufacture. The three tala pakarekku or talam are the rhythm and drone strings which are fashioned as subsidiary strings tuned to the tonic, upper tonic and fifth. These are attached to three pegs on the side of the neck that reside on a separate, curving bridge placed aside the main bridge, and are closest to the player's body when held. The other four (main) strings, the sarani, are tuned to the fifth and tonic in two octaves The four main strings ascend into and are attached to the four pegs, the birdai, in the peg box. The meru is the upper bridge which begins where the fingerboard ends, on which the peg box resides before its neck curves back toward the player to end in a carved dragon's head---the yali.