S-r-g-m-P-d-N-S

---

During my original search for the ‘32 sampurna thaat’, I couldn’t find a single raga that precisely matched the SrgmPdNS swara-set. This surprised me, given the scale’s inherently fascinating shape – with a poorvang-uttarang bifurcation of ‘Bhairavi–Bhairav’ (Srgm+PdNS), equivalent to ‘Bhairavi shuddha ni’, ‘Bhairav komal ga’, ‘Todi shuddha ma’, or ‘Kirwani komal re’. While the sequence does turn up in Carnatic music as Dhenuka (mela #9: named after a legendary donkey-demon who was slain by Lord Krishna’s elder brother Balarama), my guess was that any congruent Hindustani experiments had probably been absorbed into the general ‘Mishra Bhairavi’ framework. Thankfully, scholar-singer Ashish Dha responded to my ‘unfilled thaat’ callout, sending in a superb Dhrupad rendition on the first day of 2026 (see transcription below). Dha titled his recording ‘Ardhanaarishvara’ in honour of the raga’s ‘Bhairavi-Bhairav’ split – ‘Ardhanārīśvara’ (‘Half-Female Lord’) refers to a combined incarnation of Shiva and Parvati, traditionally depicted as half-male and half-female to represent the divine synthesis of masculine and feminine (the Goddess Bhairavi is a form of Parvati, and Bhairav is named after Lord Shiva: read more about Hindu conceptions of ‘Shiva-Shakti’ here). According to Dha himself, “[The title] is so blindingly obvious…I can’t believe I spent half an hour thinking of a name! In the vast majority of writing systems, it even preserves the traditional Hindu gender placement: female to the left of the male”. His melodic summary lists essential phrases of gmdNP; dNS gmrS, also noting that re and Pa may be optionally omitted in aroha (in the manner of both Bhairavi and Bhairav), and highlighting the concluding motion dNS; gr\S (“Sung as ‘Ta-na-na To-o-om’; to be used as the section-ending phrase in Dagarvani-style alap“). Compare to other Ashish Dha experiments including Chandni Todi (another previously ‘unfilled thaat’), TrishNaa (“meaning ‘thirst’ in Hindi”), and Antariksh (“a companion raga to Shivkumar Sharma’s Antardhwani”) – and browse his interactive table of raga tetrachords, which helped inspire my own ‘Bifurcations’ analysis. And listen to Moumita Mitra’s fascinating 2026 imagining of the same scale form as ‘Dhenuka Todi‘, formed via blending melodies from Todi, Bilaskhani Todi, and Bhairavi.

---

• Raga Masterlist (1000+) •

राग अर्धनारीश्वर

Search | Glossary | Tags

• Hindustani Raga Index •

Aroha: SgmdNS / SrgmPdNS

Avroh: SNdPmgrS

---

Chalan: vital phrases – e.g. dNS gmrS; SgmdNP; gmdNP; PNP, PdNP; gmdNNS; dNS; gmrS (Dha)

---

—Ashish Dha (2026)—

---

[alap, e.g. 16:10] dNS (S)g\r\S, gmmm gPm mg\r, r rrr ggg PPmm mmPPP, PPPPPP, SSSS rrrr gggg gmPmg\r r\S, NNSNS, ddNNNSSS…

---

• Classifiers •

Explore hidden inter-raga connections: swara geometries, melodic features, murchana sets, ragangas, & more (also see the Full Tag List):

---

Swaras: -4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10+

Sapta: Audav | Shadav | Sampurna

Poorvang: SRGM | SRG | SRM | SGM

Uttarang: PDNS | PDS | PNS | DNS

Varjit: Re | Ga | Ma | Pa | Dha | Ni

Thaat: 10 | 32 | Enclosed | Inexact

Chal: All-shuddha | All-komal | Ma-tivra

Gaps: Anh. | Hemi. | 3-row | 4-row | 5-row

---

Aroha: Audav | Shadav | Sampurna

Avroh: Audav | Shadav | Sampurna

Jati: Equal | Balanced | Av.+1 | Av.+2

Samay: Morning | Aftern. | Eve. | Night

Construction: Jod | Mishra | Oddball

Origin: Ancient | Carnatic | Modern

Dominance: Poorvang | Uttarang

Prevalence: A-list | Prachalit | Aprach.

• Prakriti: Thaat #24

–Swara Geometries–

---

• Core form: S–r–g–m–P–d–N–S

• Reverse: SrGmPDNS (=Bhatiyari Bhairav)

• Complement: SRGMDnS

• Imperfect: 3 (ga, Pa, Ni)

• Detached: 1 (Ni)

• Symmetries: none

• Murchanas: Shanmukhpriya (on ma)

–Global Translations–

---

• Carnatic: Dhenuka (mela #9)

S-R₁-G₂-M₁-P-D₁-N₃-S

• Jazz: Neapolitan Minor

1-b2-b3-4-5-b6-7-8

• Pitch classes (‘fret-jumps’):

0-1-3-5-7-8-11-0

(1–2–2–2–1–3–1)

---

o o • o • o • o o • • o o

---

• Tanpura: Sa–Pa

• Names: Ardhanaarishvara, Ardhanarishvara, Ardhanaareeshvar, Ardhanārīśvara

• Transliterations: Hindi (अर्धनारीश्वर); Assamese (অৰ্ধনাৰীশ্বৰ); Gujarati (અર્ધનારીશ્વર); Punjabi (ਅਰਧਨਾਰੀਸ਼ਵਰ); Arabic (أردهاناريشفارا); Kannada (ಅರ್ಧನಾರೀಶ್ವರ); Malayalam (അർദ്ധനാരീശ്വരൻ); Odia (ଅର୍ଦ୍ଧନାରୀଶ୍ୱର); Sinhala (අර්ධනාරීශ්වර); Tamil (அர்த்தநாரீசுவரர்); Telugu (అర్ధనారీశ్వరుడు)