S-R-g-m-P-D-n-S

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Associated with the invigorating warmth of the late afternoon sun, Bhimpalasi evokes multiple shades of shringara (‘romantic love, erotic desire’). Thought to have arisen from an archaic union between Bheem and the near-extinct Palas, the raga calls for direct, passionate melodic outpourings, balancing a deft pentatonic ascent (nSgmPnS: prakriti with Dhani) against the symmetry-inducing addition of Dha and Re on the way down, with these swaras typically ornamented from above as (n)D; (g)R. Unlike most other Dhanashree ragas, Bhimpalasi to focus more on ma than Pa as a resting point (e.g. via the common launch-phrase nSm). Shares its core form with Bageshri, Shahana, Desi, and other Kafi-shaped ragas, although Bhimpalasi can take its own distinct set of sruti (e.g. Shivkumar Sharma sometimes tunes his Re and ni slightly ‘closer to Sa‘, subtly reshading the symmetry of the SnD; SRg relationship). Also compare to other members of the Dhanashree raganga such as Patdeep (a phraseological ally which takes shuddha Ni instead) and Abheri (a close Carnatic equivalent).

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Aroha: nSgmP, mPnS

Avroh: SnDPmg, mgRS

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Pakad: e.g. nSm; PmgmP; gmPnDP

Chalan: e.g. nSgR; SnSm; mP; gmPnD; P; mPgmP(S)n; nS; PnSgRS; SnD; P; D(P)mP(m)g; m; mP(m)g; mgRS (Parrikar)

• Shuddha Re and Dha are omitted in ascent, and in descent tend to be ornamented from above as (n)D; (g)R

• Improvisations often begin on mandra ni (e.g. nSm) – and may conclude with the ‘straight-line’ mgRS

• Shuddha ma is stronger than Pa, and is used more frequently as a resting tone (unusual for the Dhanashree family)

• The raga’s ‘Pa-repeating‘ nature allows for paired poorvang-uttarang congruences (e.g. nSgR; mPnD)

• Strongly associated with shringara (‘love, romance, attraction’), as well as the searing heat of the afternoon sun

–Kushal Das (2010)–

(hear me play Bhimpalasi on guitar!)

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“Go away, go back to your home; My mother and sister-in-law will hear you; For, while I do love you; You have deceived me…” (from the Sadarang-attributed Bhimpalasi bandish Ja Ja Re Apne Mandirwa)

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—Context—

Origins, myths, quirks, & more

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[COMING SOON: click here to hasten the project’s expansion, so all 365+ raga pages can eventually look more like these]

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—Phraseologies—

Melodies, movements, characteristics…

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Bhimpalasi is confined to the seven swaras of Kafi thaat throughout, taking an audav ascent of SgmPnS and a sampurna descent of SnDPmgRS. Characteristically, Dha and Re only appear in the descending line – and tend to be approached from the notes immediately above, ornamented in various shades as n\D and g\R. Shuddha ma is a consistent vadi, and Sa as the samvadi. Ascents often begin on mandra ni or madhya ga, moving in patterns such as nSgm, gmPnS…

[coming soon]

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—MusicRiyaaz visualisation (2023)—

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“Bhimpalasi traces its antecedents to the almost-defunct Kafi-thaat Dhanashree – a form which is instead characterised by a dominant Pa. When the accent is shifted off Pa, and ma is advanced, the result is an avirbhav of Bhimpalasi – and it is precisely this preponderance of ma that bestows on Bhimpalasi its allure. The kernel of Bhimpalasi is encapsulated in the following ma-centric movement: PnSm; Sgm, mgmgRS…” (Rajan Parrikar)

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—Listen—

A brief selection of superb renditions

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–Uday Bhawalkar (2011)–

• Dagarvani Dhrupad (8m): the Dagarvani exponent captured in full flight for Darbar 2011 at London’s King’s Place, ably supported by Sukhwinder Singh’s deep-toned jori in rendering a heady mix of rhythmic, syllabic, and pure-toned melodic explorations (at 5:42: after holding a high Sa for over 30 seconds, Bhawalkar immediately quiets the crowd’s applause with a brief wave of the hand: a picture-perfect reminder of Dhrupad’s historic disdain for empty technical virtuosity):

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[refrain, e.g. 0:42] P/n(D) (nDn)P, m\g mP; P/n(D) (nDn)P, m\g mP…

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–Debasmita Bhattacharya (2015)–

• Shahjahanpur sarod (10m): a shringara-laced solo take by the Bengali sarod star, recorded outdoors in West Bengal (in the words of Aditya Chaudhuri: “It was a warm summer afternoon; the sun at that perfect angle through the trees, and the wind blowing gently…this performance just unlocked the afternoon, truly tapping into the time of the raga…”):

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[alap, e.g. 2:29] (R)SnPnS m\g P\m(Pmg), S(m)g (P)m(Pmg), g/P, P, P, (m)P, P, P, P\S, P/n nS S(m) (m)g (P)m(Pmg), S(m)g (P)m (P)mg, g/P, P, P(m), P, P(m), P, n(PnDnDP) m\g, g…

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–Further Recordings–

• Kaushiki Chakraborty (5m): a virtuosic excerpt from Darbar 2015 (one of the highest-viewed raga videos of all time)
• Saskia Rao De Haas (8m): the Hindustani cello pioneer explores her instrument’s deep-sliding timbres in an uptempo tintal gat
• Kishori Amonkar (8m): filmed in pristine quality at London’s Kensington Town Hall in 2000, backed by violin and harmonium
• Premkumar & Prashant Mallick (8m): a sultal song to Shiva, showcasing the Darbhanga’s Gauharvani-infused layakari
• Sabir & Momin Khan (10m): a spellbinding rendition from the young Jaipur sarangi duo, live at Darbar 2019 in London
• Shubha Mudgal (10m): the best Bhimpalasi rendition I’ve ever witnessed live, filmed at the Southbank Centre for Darbar 2016
• Aslam Khan (10m): an AUTRIM pitch-graph (“Do not be arrogant…Fear the Almighty, and keep Ahmed in your heart”)
• Alam Khan (12m): another Darbar take (“Khan’s creative flow in Bhimpalasi tugs at one’s heart-strings, resonating deeply…”)
• Jayateerth Mevundi (14m): a stellar Kirana performance (compare the closing bandish to Kishori’s interpretation above)
• Dhruv Bedi (15m): a fine rendition from the young Imdadkhani sitarist, filmed on a rock in a spectacular canyon
• Nikhil Banerjee, Ali Akbar Khan, & Aashish Khan (28m): spotlight-sharing interplay from a 1979 show in Florida
• Ashwini Bhide-Deshpande (29m): a highly revered 1992 recording (including Ja Ja Re Apne Mandirava & a tarana)
• Shivkumar Sharma (30m): the santoor’s sustain accentuates the hemitonic clash of nD & gR in a superb alap–jor–jhalla
• Rashid Khan (40m): balancing ornamental flourish and crystal-clear swara precision, in one of his best performances
• Debashish Bhattacharya (78m): the slide guitarist invokes the fluidities of sitar, sarod, rudra veena, and more

• Guitaragas •

My attempts to capture the raga on electric guitar (see more on my Insta)

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—Kaushiki Chakraborty taans (guitar)—

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My brief electric guitar cover of some rapid taans from Kaushiki Chakraborty’s Darbar performance…

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• Experiments •

Novel interpretations of the raga’s essence…

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—Michael Harrison (microtonal piano)—

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“Aged 15 I went to India and Nepal, and heard Ravi Shankar and Alla Rakha in concert. A few years later, I became intoxicated by the Sufi musician and mystic Hazrat Inayat Khan’s teachings, and began a lifelong study of Indian classical music. From age 20 onwards, my most important influences were my teachers Pandit Pran Nath, La Monte Young, and Terry Riley, and later Mashkoor Ali Khan…Now I sing ragas and play the piano in just intonation every day…it combines all the things I love the most in music: singing, piano, just intonation, ragas & talas, composition, and structured improvisation. This is the well-spring I go to every day, and out of it, the seeds of most of my compositions are born…” (Michael Harrison: also see more raga pianists)

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• Classifiers •

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

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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

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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: Kafi thaat, Kafi, Bageshri, Shahana, Desi, Dhanashree, Hussaini Kanada, Mudriki Kanada, Raisa Kanada

Also compare to other members of the Dhanashree raganga

–Proximate Forms–

Patdeep = ‘Bhimpalasi shuddha Ni‘

Khamaj = ‘Bhimpalasi shuddha Ga‘

Ahiri = ‘Bhimpalasi komal re‘

Adana = ‘Bhimpalasi komal dha‘

Sindhura = ‘Bhimpalasi double Ni‘

Dhani = ‘Bhimpalasi no Re/Dha‘

(n.b. these are just ‘scalar similarities’, with nothing particular implied about phraseological overlap)

–Swara Geometries–

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• Core form: S–R–g–m–P–D–n–S

• Reverse: SRgmPDnS (=itself)

• Complement: SrGMdNS (=Din ki Puriya)

• Imperfect: 1 (Dha)

• Detached: none

• Symmetries: mirror (S—M)

• Murchanas: Bilawal set

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• Quirks: ‘palindromic‘ (same intervals forwards & backwards) • ‘maximal‘ (swaras are optimally ‘spread out’) • ‘Pa-repeating‘ (poorvang and uttarang take the same ‘semitone shape’)

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–Global Translations–

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• Carnatic: ~Kharaharapriya (mela #22)

S-R₂-G₂-M₁-P-D₂-N₂-S

• Jazz: Dorian

1-2-b3-4-5-6-b7-8

• Pitch classes (‘fret-jumps’):

0-2-3-5-7-9-10-0

(2–1–2–2–2–1–2)

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o • o o • o • o • o o • o

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• Tanpura: Sa–ma (+Pa)

• Names: Bhimpalasi, Bheempalasi, Bheem Palas

• Transliterations: Hindi (भीमपलासी); Urdu (بھیم پلاس); Bengali (ভীমপলাশি)

—More—

Further info: links, listenings, learnings, etc

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• Raag Bhimpalasi: [coming soon]

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• Header audio: Santoor gat in madhya ektal by Shivkumar Sharma (1998)
• Header image: ‘Sun Rays Among the Trees in India’ (Commons)

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