The Sarpa is a percussion instrument that is used for a dance of the same name by Santal women during the Sohrai harvest festival. It gets its name from the sound that the instrument produces.  

The Sarpa is of comparatively recent vintage. According to a local resource, it was apparently created as an alternative percussion instrument to the traditional Tumda and Tamak used during Sohrai, post the Santal Rebellion of 1855. With the British keeping a sharp lookout for group gatherings, yet percussion essential for the dances during Sohrai, cautious Santals in the Jhargram area of Medinipur decided to create a percussion instrument that would not attract as much attention as the booming traditional drums.  While the use of the instrument later spread to other regions, perhaps through migration, its use remains restricted.  

 

The Sarpa consists of a vertical wooden pole about eighteen inches high that is slotted through the centre of two crossed horizontal slats of wood. The wood used is usually Akashmoni (Acacia auriculiformis), a durable wood. 

The lengths of the strings should be such that when all four are tugged upwards, they align with the top of the vertical pole and the clappers make sharp contact with the bottom of the horizontal slats. Once aligned, the top of the strings are knotted together in a loop to enable the performer to conveniently tug at it.  

With the handle at the top of the vertical pole in the left hand and the knotted loop of strings held in the right hand, the clappers are drawn up very sharply against the wooden bars to producing a ringing sound. The crafting and workmanship of the Sarpa  varies: some handles are plain, while others are carved in the shape of a bird; the horizontal slats too can be plain or carved and the lengths of the central pole and slats too may vary. Clappers have traditionally been just wood, but some attach bells to the wooden clapper, while others may use two layers of clappers for a stronger sound.