Every first Sunday of July Kazakhstan celebrates National Dombra Day, this year the holiday falls on July 2, according to the MIR 24 portal. President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev congratulated the citizens of the country on the day of the main musical instrument of the Kazakhs.
“This ancient musical instrument embodies the soul of our people, its traditions and culture. Raising the spirit and glory of the nation, dombra has become our invaluable asset and national symbol,” the head of state said in his congratulations.
The two-stringed dombra (or dombyra) is the most popular musical instrument among the Kazakhs, whose ancestors were nomads. In the old days, dombra was in every house and almost everyone knew how to play it. The body of the dombra is made from a single piece of wood; for this, any available wood was used.
The prototype of the modern dombra is at least 4 thousand years old: in the mountains near Almaty, rock paintings about 4000 years old were found, which depict dancing people with instruments similar to dombra in their hands.