Kurdish tanbur or
tanbour , a
fretted string instrument, is an initial and main form of the
tanbur instrument family, original of and unique to the
Kurdish people. It is highly associated with the
Yarsan (Ahl-e Haqq) religion in
Kurdish areas and in the
Lorestan provinces of
Iran. It is one of the few musical instruments used in Ahl-e Haqq rituals, and practitioners venerate the tembûr as a sacred object. Another popular
percussion instrument used together with the tembur in Yarsan spirituality is the Kurdish
daf.