An Indian drum with a barrel-shaped shell. The left side resembles the bayan (large metal drum of the tabla) except that it uses dholak masala (oil based application) on the inner surface instead of a syahi (permanent black spot). The right head is unique in its construction. Goatskin is stitched onto an iron ring. In the centre of this skin is a syahi, similar to tabla except much thinner. The traditional nals were laced with rope and had sticks to function as turnbuckles. Today, metal turnbuckles have replaced the rope lacing in most models.

Also known as nal, it is very popular in the tamasha (street performance) of Maharashtra and has been absorbed into the Hindi film industry.

There is often some confusion concerning the term dholki because this literally means a small dholak. As such, the name is often used for smaller dholaks that structurally are dissimilar to the dholki or nal.