The South Indian form of veena, which is in fact a long-necked pear-shaped plucked lute used in Carnatic classical music.

The saraswati veena was developed in the 1600s. It is about 4 feet in length, with a large carved wooden resonator (kudam), a tapering hollow neck topped with 24 brass or bell-metal frets set in scalloped black wax on wooden tracks, and a tuning box culminating in a downward curve and an ornamental dragon's head. A small table-like wooden bridge is topped by a convex brass plate glued in place with resin. Two rosettes, formerly of ivory, now of plastic or horn, are on the top board of the resonator.

4 main playing strings tuned to the tonic and the 5th in two octaves stretch from fine tuning connectors attached to the end of the resonator across the bridge and above the fretboard to 4 large-headed pegs in the tuning box. 3 subsidiary drone strings tuned to tonic, 5th and upper tonic cross a curving side bridge leaning against the main bridge and stretch on the player's side of the neck to 3 pegs matching those of the main playing strings. All 7 strings today are of music wire, the lower strings often wound like those of the lower strings of a guitar.

The veena is played by sitting cross-legged with the instrument held tilted slightly away from the player. The small gourd on the left rests on the player's left thigh, the left arm passing beneath the neck with the hand curving up and around so that the fingers rest upon the frets. The palm of the right hand rests on the edge of the top plank so that the fingers (usually index and middle) can pluck the strings. The drone strings are played with the little finger. The veena's large resonator is placed on the floor, beyond the the right thigh.

Like the sitar, the left hand technique involves playing on the frets, controlled pulling on the strings to achieve higher tones and glissandi through increased tension, and finger flicks, all to reflect the characteristics of various ragas and their ornamentation.

Modern innovations include a circular sound hole (like that of the guitar), substitution of machine heads for pegs for easier tuning, and the widespread use of contact microphones in performance. Unfortunately, contact mikes (often combined with poor amplification systems) greatly distort the remarkable acoustics of the veena and its rich mix of overtones.