Bhavani | SRmDS | Hindustani Raga Index

S-R-m-D-S

Distinguished by permitting only four swaras (and sometimes titled ‘Chatuswari’: ‘four-toned’), Bhavani’s symmetrical shape is akin to ‘Durga no Pa’. Its intriguing surtar sparsity necessitates a multipolar approach to melodic resolution, tempting a murchana-like refocus towards the triads available from Re (RmD: minor) and ma (mDS: major). Associated with the 20th-century experiments of Gwalior vocalist Narayanrao Vyas (who pointed his renditions towards the Bilawal-ang: and, curiously, cut this recording with the tabla‘s Na stroke tuned to ma rather than Sa: see my Survey of Sa Locations for more such oddities), with others such as Abhirang continuing in this vein today. The name ‘Bhavani’ refers to an epithet of the goddess Durga, translating directly as ‘The One Who Brings Existence‘. Other ‘chatuswari’ ragas include Shivangi (SGPD: a ‘Deshkar no Re‘ sung by Shubhada Moghe, and Bhavani’s exact ma-murchana), Bairagi Shree (SrPn: a recent fusion by Abhirang), and Bharadwaj Harindra (SgGPn: an invention of A. Sundarmurthy with 5 ‘specific‘ swaras but only 4 ‘generic‘ ones, which ascends and descends with only 4 in each direction too: SGPnS<>SnPgS) – as well as other 4-tone experiments such as Hungarian-Austrian composer György Ligeti’s piano solo Musica Ricercata #3 (SgGP). Send in any I’ve missed!

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राग भवानी

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Aroha: SRmDS

Avroh: SDmRS

Chalan: (uncodified)

—Narayanrao Vyas (~1960s)—

[bandish, e.g. 0:02] SRSDm, RSR m, R mDDm, DSSD…

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• Recent Raga Index Updates (Nov 2025): Added new ragas: e.g. Asa, Basant Bahar, Badhans Sarang, Bayati, Chandni Todi, Chandraprabha, Deepavali, Firozkhani Todi, Gaud, Japaniya, Kaushiki, Kokilapriya, Latangi, Maru, Palas, Sarangkauns, Shanmukhpriya, Shivanjali, Shrutivardhini • Analysed the overlap of DoGa Kalyan and the Beatles’ Blue Jay Way • Amir Khan’s ‘168 merukhands’ • Uncovered Prabhateshwari‘s origins • Transcribed Manjiri Asanare-Kelkar’s ‘Amodini‘ lec-dems • Experiments (e.g overtonal Bhairav, jazz Malkauns) • Survey of Sa Tunings • More Masterlist ragas (1000+)

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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 see other ‘chatuswari‘ ragas including Shivangi (SGPD), Rasmadhuri (Srmd), Vaishali Todi (Srgd), Bairagi Shree (SrPn), & Bharadwaj Harindra (SgGPn)

–Swara Geometries–

• Core form: S–R–m–D–S

• Reverse: SgPnS

• Negative: 2-2-1-2-1-1-2-1 (e.g. Chandrakaushiki)

• Imperfect: 2 (Sa, Dha)

• Detached: none

• Symmetries: mirror (r—P)

• Murchanas: Shivangi (on ma)

• Quirks: ‘surtar‘ (only 4 swaras) • ‘atritonal‘ (no available tritones)

–Global Translations–

• Carnatic: (~Abhogi)

S-R₂-M₁-D₂-S

• Jazz: Suspended Quadratonic

1-2-4-6-8

• Pitch classes (‘fret-jumps’):

0-2-5-9-0

(2–3–4–3)

o • o • • o • • • o • • o

• Tanpura: Sa–ma (+Dha)

• Names: (Chatuswari) Bhavani, Chatu Bhavanee

• Transliterations: Hindi (भवानी)

—Abhirang (2020)—

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George Howlett is a London-based musician, writer, and teacher (guitars, sitar, tabla, & santoor). Above all I seek to enthuse fellow sonic searchers, interconnecting fresh vibrations with the voices, cultures, and passions behind them. See Homepage for more, and hit me up for Lessons!