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Quite simply, it's an ancient guitar instrument from India. It has a unique 'cosmic' sound to western ears. Invented many centuries ago. George Harrison of the Beatles introduced it into rock'n'roll when sitar maestro Ravi Shankar gave him lessons. 'Norwegian Wood' features it prominently and that's the first hit song in Western rock to feature it. Soon, other bands such as the Rolling Stones, Kinks and more would use it. Since it's pretty complex and cumbersome, the easier-to-play electric sitar was invented in the US a few years later. Similar in tone, you can hear the electric sitar in many late 60s - early 70s soul and funk records. Many bands use sitars of both types up to this day.
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