S-r-m-P-n-S

---

Bairagi (‘detachment’, ‘separation’) is a pentatonic form inducted into the ragascape by an early-career Ravi Shankar – as recounted in Oliver Craske’s superlative biography Indian Sun, p.106: “Shankar created Bairagi in 1949, [publishing] the raga, and a bandish in it, in Sangeet Magazine”. The ‘Megh komal re‘ swara set – which may well have appeared in other guises throughout history – concisely scatters intervals of 1, 2, 3, and 4 semitones, matching the Re-murchana of Shivranjani. Melodic motions tend to draw much of their character from the Bhairav–ang (particuarly sustained oscillations on komal re), with komal ni also assuming prominence (e.g. the Shahid Parvez take below). Generally favoured by instrumentalists, although audav specialist Amir Khan‘s vocal renditions are ever-sublime. The nSr grouping seems reminiscent of Vedic chant refrains (in Anoushka Shankar’s words, “Bairagi has this deep, spiritual, internal quality”), while the overall swara-set resembles the Carnatic Revathi – and also the ‘Insen Scale’ of Japanese court music (as highlighted in Aishik Bandyopadhyay’s Comparative Study of Indian Ragas and Japanese Scales). Also see Shankar’s subsequent Bairagi Todi – as well as his Parameshwari, Gangeshwari, Kameshwari, Rangeshwari, Jogeshwari, Mohankauns, Ahir Lalit, & Pancham se Gara.

---

• Raga Megalist (365+) •

राग बैरागी

Search | Glossary | Tags

• Hindustani Raga Index •

—Shahid Parvez Khan (2021)—

---

[refrain, e.g. 5:01] P/n\P, n S r, r/m g/m, (m)rS, P/n\P, n(Sn) S r…

---

• Experiments •

Novel interpretations of the raga’s essence…

---

—Charanjit Singh (Ten Ragas To A Disco Beat)—

---

“Charanjit Singh’s LP Ten Ragas to a Disco Beat was created in Mumbai in 1982, produced on Roland TB-303 and Roland TR 808 [synths]. The record boasted the soon-to-be thought of as ‘acid house sensibilities’: four-on-the-floor rhythm, with a flurry of synthesised melodies dancing around it. Perhaps our misunderstanding of the true roots of acid house can be attributed to Singh’s diffusing take on his own innovation: ‘There was lots of disco music in films back in 1982, so I thought, ‘Why not do something different using disco music only?’. I got an idea to play Indian ragas [with] a disco beat – and turn off the tabla. And I did it. And it turned out good…” (Far Out Magazine)

---

• 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

Double: rR | gG | mM | dD | nN

Thaat: 10 | 32 | Enclosed | Inexact

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

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

Symmetries: Mirror | Rotation | Palindr.

---

Aroha: Audav | Shadav | Sampurna

Avroh: Audav | Shadav | Sampurna

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

Samay: Morning | Aftern. | Eve. | Night

Murchana: Bhup. | Bihag | Bilaw. | Charu.

Raganga: Bhairav | Malhar | Kan. | Todi

Construction: Jod | Mishra | Oddball

Origin: Ancient | Carnatic | Modern

Dominance: Poorvang | Uttarang

Prevalence: A-list | Prachalit | Aprach.

• Prakriti: (none found)

Also compare to other ragas matching the generic swaras ‘Sa-Re-Ma-Pa-Ni‘: including Megh, Madhumad Sarang (S-R-m-P-n-S); Devshri (S-R-M-P-n-S); Sarang (S-R-m-P-nN-S); & Madhusurja (S-rR-mM-P-n-S).

–Swara Geometries–

---

• Core form: S–r–m–P–n–S

• Reverse: SRmPNS

• Negative: 3-1-1-2-2-1-2 (e.g. Jogeshwari Panch.)

• Imperfect: 2 (re, Pa)

• Detached: 1 (re)

• Symmetries: none

• Murchanas: Shivranjani set

–Global Translations–

---

• Carnatic: ~Revathi

S-R₁-M₁-P-N₂-S

• Jazz: Phrygian Dominant (no 3rd/6th)

1-b2-4-5-b7-8

• Pitch classes (‘fret-jumps’):

0-1-5-7-10-0

(1–4–2–3–2)

---

o o • • • o • o • • o • o

---

• Tanpura: Sa–Pa (+ni)

• Names: Bairagi, Bairaga, Bairgi Bhairav, Bairagi Bhairon, (~Kshanika)

• Transliterations: Hindi (बैरागी); Bengali (বৈরটী)

—Rashid Khan (1997)—