S-R-G-P-D-S

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Hailed for its structural simplicity, Bhupali is often the first raga taught to Hindustani students. While its basic ‘Major Pentatonic‘ scale form is shared by countless global cultures, the North Indian incarnation (named for Madhya Pradesh’s Bhopal region) presents its own quirks – invoking tranquillity and home-bound reassurance with interlinked sliding motions and emphatic resolutions (e.g. SRS; S\DS). Shares its five swaras (if not its phraseologies) with Deshkar, Jait Kalyan, and the underlying ‘non-mishra‘ shape of Pahadi, as well as forming the aroha of Shuddha Kalyan – with Mohanam being the closest Carnatic equivalent, and sarodiya Debasmita Bhattacharya noting that “in Chinese music, some scales match our ragas: I collaborated with a pipa [four-stringed lute] player, and it can sound like Bhupali is there”.

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Aroha: SRGPDS

Avroh: SDPGRSR, DS

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Chalan: e.g. S(S)D; SRG; GRS; (S)DS; S(G)RG; GRPG; PRG; SR; RGR; SRS; GRGP; PGDP(P)G; GPRG; GR; SRS; (S)DS (Parrikar)

–Hariprasad Chaurasia (1996)–

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“Kishori Amonkar once said that when she started learning khayal, she was asked to sing Bhupali exclusively for fifteen months, with no other raga to provide contrast or relief…Kishori says she has a special bond with this raga: she finds her soul meeting the almighty, making it blissful and ecstatic.” (Kirti Vashee)

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—Context—

Origins, myths, quirks, & more

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Bhupali’s simple structure is foundational to how raga itself is learned – often serving as the very first scale taught to Hindustani students. Kishori Amonkar recounted that when she started learning khayal with her mother Mogubai Kurdikar, “she [had] to sing Bhupali exclusively for fifteen months, with no other raga to provide relief”.

 

The raga’s flavours are ideally suited to an ethos of open-minded learning, with Tanarang describing it as “a tranquil, soft melody, that fills up a new life force in the environment…creating a deep and soothing atmosphere” (…I’d wager it would be much harder to engage a young child’s focus to the strains of Marwa or Mangal Gujari). Indeed, its structure banishes the two most dissonant intervals entirely: with no way to play either minor 2nds or tritones (i.e. no 1-semitone or 6-semitone jumps are available). Arguably, the scale is uniquely ill-suited to conjuring anger, despair, or existential unsettlement.

 

In keeping with these pedagogic powers, a 2015 cognition study on music and memory found that “immediately after exposure to Bhupali, there was a significant improvement in digit-forward and backward-span scores…the improvement is significant compared to pop music and silence” – based on playing college-age students recordings by Pravin Godkhindi (a bansuri gat) and Sunil Das, Ulhas Bapat, & Rakesh Chaurasia (covering the Lata Mangeshkar filmi tune Bhabhi Ki Chudiyan).

 

(Tansen sits with his guru Swami Haridas)

Given these inherent strengths, it is no surprise that Bhupali’s scale shape echoes throughout the ragascape. Aside from its prakritis (notably Deshkar and Jait Kalyan), the sequence appears as a core constituent of other forms: such as turning up as the aroha of Shuddha Kalyan, and forming the structural basis for Bhupali Todi (an ‘all-komal‘ flip: SRGPDS > SrgPdS). It is also ‘hidden’ elsewhere: e.g. given Marwa‘s Sa-skipping tendencies, it effectively resembles ‘Bhupali from Dha‘ (i.e. DNrSGMD > SRgGPDS) – something also evident in Yaman‘s ascending-line avoidance of Sa and Pa (‘Bhupali from Re‘: SRGMPDNS > nSRGmPDS).

 

Furthermore, this underlying interval pattern (‘…2-2-3-2-3…’) is the only murchana set to have a well-known raga for each rotational possibility (Bhupali > Megh > Malkauns > Durga > Dhani). The same shape is also fundamental to the ragascape’s second most important murchana family – the 7-toned Bilawal set – occurring as its 5-toned ‘negative‘: i.e. the scale formed by Bilawal‘s ‘unoccupied’ positions: SrRgGmMPdDnNS > rgMdn > Mdnrg > SRGPD, or ‘Bhupali from absent Ma‘ (somewhat akin to a photographic negative, and exactly like the black/white key split of a piano: which is laid out to form ‘Bhupali in Gb/Bilawal in C‘):

 

 

Despite its ‘straightforward’ melodic reputation, Bhupali is nevertheless capable of conjuring complex emotional shades. Many rasikas hold Kishori Amonkar‘s renditions to be the finest demonstrations of the raga’s full potential: as per Kirti Vashee’s review of her famous Sahela Re bandish (transcribed below), “Bhupali, by many measures, is a simple raga, [but] Kishori is able to produce a high density of musical ideas with this limited palette; astonishing in its variety and complexity”.

 

Zakir Hussain‘s appraisal of her self-composed Pratham Sur Sadhe is similarly evocative: “Like a painting that embodies every detail of someone’s life, there is great happiness, sadness, anger, frustration, desperation: everything just comes into focus in this concentrated little piece…one of the most immortal renderings ever”. Among her very first published compositions, the lyrics of the bandish lay bare her fundamental philosophy of how raga should be learned: Pratham sur saadhe; Jab howat gyan tab alankar kar dikhaye (“First study tonal purity; when knowledge dawns, then turn to ornamentation”).

 

Inevitably, reactions have always been subjective. Thought to have arisen from an archaic union of Kalyan and Gunkali, Somantha’s Raga Vibhoda (c.1610) attaches a distinctly romantic verse to Bhupali’s nascent form (“In nervous expectation of her lover, Bhup puts on her golden bracelets, moving hither and thither like a swing”) – whereas Alain Daniélou (a musicologist and Hindu convert known for introducing the Senior Dagar brothers to Europe), instead associates the scale with “the absence of loving passions…the renunciation of physical pleasures”, linked to the respective omissions of Ma and Ni (“a raga of cosmic movement; harmony; contentment; the joys of saintly detachment…“).

 

Given Bhupali’s exalted role in raga learning, these variances will doubtless continue into the future – as successive generations of artists each seek to put their own personal stamp on a truly global form. Its rejuvenating properties reach across cultural borders – in the words of fusion composer Michael Robinson: “My entire being yearned for the soothing simplicity and balance of Bhupali: I am a different person everyday, with different thoughts and sensations – all of which may be filtered through the raga, like ancient soma through a sieve“.

 

“Students of Hariprasad Chaurasia’s Vrindaban Gurukul in Bhubaneswar present this beautiful ensemble piece based on Bhupali. Here, students live, eat, and learn together, with birds and animals, in complete harmony. This video demonstrates ‘unity in diversity’, the perfect message for Republic Day…”

• G.N. Joshi’s Call of the Valley •

I couldn’t help but share this particularly vivid imagining of the raga, lifted from renowned musicologist G.N. Joshi’s original liner notes to Call of the Valley: the famous 1968 trio album by Shivkumar Sharma, Hariprasad Chaurasia, & Brijbhushan Kabra, which soon became one of the first raga albums to sell widely in the West. Also read Joshi’s equivalent depictions for the rest of the record – a true Hindustani classic – which, together, form a full narrative sequence, essentially a ‘concept album’ (1: Ahir Bhairav, 2: Nat Bhairav, 3: Pilu, 4: Bhupali, 5: Desh, and 6: Pahadi):

 

“The sun has just made a majestic exit in the West, and it is now twilight. The birds are hurrying back to their nests, the sheep are being herded back after a day-long grazing with plenty of fun, frolic, and feasting. They now approach the outskirts of the village, and the pealing of the temple bells fills the atmosphere. In the century-old temple, devotees are gathered for prayer to the accompaniment of instruments like the shankh [conch shell], mridang [ancestral pakhawaj], and bells. The hero also joins in the fulfilment of his desire. The notes of Raag Bhoop create a mood of sublime devotion, in keeping with the atmosphere. The traditional Dhrupad style is displayed in all its glory through the rhythmic cycle of jhaptal.”

 

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–Call of the Valley (1968)–

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• Ragmalas •

Historic miniature paintings (learn more)

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“Bhupali Ragini, opaque watercolour on paper, from a Pahari ragmala series: A princess in red striped trousers and a yellow and silver scarf sits smoking a huqqa. Two maids wait on her, one holding the bowl and the other a sheathed sword, a dish, and a cup…” (Basohli, c.1680)

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—Phraseologies—

Melodies, movements, characteristics…

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Bhupali’s fundamentals are concisely summarised by Rajan Parrikar: “Tonal activity revolves around Ga, and nyas locations are Sa–Re–Ga–Pa. The Ga–Dha coupling and aroha nyas on Pa are points of note, and the raga unravels in the poorvang-region. Tonal clusters such as SRS, (S)DS or SR(S)DS serve as delimiters during elaboration – and the perceptive mind will also see the shadow of the Kalyan raganga“.

 

This Kalyan inclination is vital to the raga’s character. Indeed, many renditions will include fleeting shades of Kalyan’s missing swaras – tivra Ma and shuddha Ni – albeit limiting them to brief ‘suggestions’ during the path of descending ornaments (e.g. in Kishori’s below as G/P(MP)G & S(N)S\D). This dimension also helps to differentiate it from Deshkar – which favours the Bilawal–ang by ‘flipping’ Bhupali’s Ga–Dha vadi–samvadi to Dha-Ga, reflecting a greater uttarang-focus (also compare to other prakritis including Jait Kalyan, Pahadi, and the Carnatic Mohanam).

 

Despite its generally simple structure, the raga is capable of subtle melodic shades. As per Patiala vocalist Ajoy Chakraborty: “Why is Hansadhwani considered a ‘small’ raga? Is it because it has only five notes? Bhupali also has only five notes, but in Bhupali there are many instances of vadi–samvadi: the [perfect 5th] relationship (such as Sa–Pa, re–dha…). This relationship is harmony, and ragas are fully elaborated when these vadi-samvadi are maximum in number“.

 

In other words, its abundance of 7-semitone jumps allows for a range of strong melodic resolutions, with all swaras possessing the ability to sound ‘final’ or ’emphatic’ if approached in the right manner (the Ga vadi is the only ‘imperfect‘ tone, i.e. with no swara 7 semitones above – and no swaras are ‘detached‘, i.e. with no swaras 7 semitones above or below). Distinctive motions often seek to highlight the ‘conjunct’ nature of two perfect-5th separated sangatis: G-P-D; D-S-R (both jumps of ‘3-2‘) – a relationship also spun into the other members of its murchana set (Megh, Malkauns, Durga, & Dhani).

 

Parrikar outlines tonal sentences of S(S)D; SRG, GRS; (S)DS (“a nyas on Ga, and the kan of Sa on Dha”), S(G)RG; GRPG; PRG; SR; RGR; SRS (“centred on Ga, nyas of Re”), GRGP, PGDP; (P)G; GPRG; GR; SRS; (S)DS (“the Ga-Dha coupling, and aroha nyas on Pa”), and GP(S)D; (S)D; S, S(S)DSR; RS (“a typical uttarang launch…the simple aroha–avroh masks Bhupali’s non-linearity…”). For more melodic info, refer to the transcriptions below, as well as lessons from Sanskriti, Aradhana Karhade, Gajanrao Joshi, Shubhangi Sakhalkar, and Sarita Pathak Yajurvedi, and notes from a K.G. Ginde lecture [n.b. Amjad Ali Khan’s widely-viewed ‘How I play Bhupali‘ video actually cuts to Mishra Khamaj at just the wrong moment…].

 

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—Kishori Amonkar (pitch-graph)—

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“In its final analysis, Indian classical music is a feeling. It is not about you or me; or even about the raga or the singer – it is about universality. It is truth. I believe that every subject has come into existence to realise this ultimate…the final destination, which is peace.” (Kishori Amonkar)

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—Listen—

A brief selection of superb renditions

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–Kishori Amonkar (1971)–

• Jaipur-Atrauli khayal (21m): heralded by many as the raga’s foremost modern exponent (Kirti Vashee: “this kind of focus, in the hands of a master like Kishori-ji, means one can go deep into each individual swara…the special ‘Bhoop Rishab’ for example, which is different from the Re in Shuddha Kalyan. This kind of long-term focus allows one to find all the sruti finesse in the raga, and reveal colours which are rarely heard. This all requires informed and sensitive listening…”):

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[alap/sthayi, e.g. 0:03] R(S), (D)S(RS)G, S(GR)G P(GP)G RG(RS), S(GR)G(RS) (NS)RS; (GPM)P\G G\R, (D)SR S(SN)S\D, S\D (SD)S, (SNS)RS, (S)G\RG (G)R, S(S)GRG(R)S, G/P(MP) P(MPDP)G, G(R)GR, P\GP…

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–Sayeeduddin Dagar (2005)–

• Dagarvani Dhrupad (53m): the revered vocalist is accompanied by Mohan Shyam Sharma’s pakhawaj in one of the most captivating concert films in all of Hindustani music – live from a 2005 performance at the Vezelay Monastery in France (as per one commenter: “this rendition helped me breathe when I was on an isolation ward with COVID; it literally saved my life…”):

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[refrain, e.g. 33:41] SRGP DS S(DS) D(SD) PDS; (G)S, (D)P\G GP GR (G)R, SSS, S/S\D SS, P(GP)G, G, GP GR…

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–Further Recordings–

• K.G. Ginde (9m): an enchanting melody in madhya tintal from the late Agra maestro, accompanied by unnamed vocal students
• Manjusha Kulkarni-Patil (11m): an unaccompanied lakeside performance, filmed in the fading light of dusk for Darbar VR360
• Nancy Lesh-Kulkarni (25m): a cello rendering in Dhrupad style, via an alap–jor–jhalla and self-composed jhaptal theme
• Bhimanna Jadhav (28m): on the sundari, a rare double-reed instrument sometimes called the ‘younger sister of shehnai‘
• Shivkumar Sharma (40m): the santoor‘s rich, sustained resonances serve to highlight Bhupali’s harmonic geometries
• D.V. Paluskar (40m): a revered live rendition, recorded shortly before his life was tragically cut short in 1955, aged just 34
• Pratima Tilak (43m): at the Past/Present Festival, with Omkar Gulvady on tabla and Chinmay Kolhatkar on harmonium
• Balaram Pathak (46m): a distinctive spin from the Pathak gharana sitarist, from a 1986 Amsterdam radio broadcast
• Ajoy Chakraborty (47m): “his Bhupali in Khairagarh stunned the students at Mahavidyalaya; some started weeping…”
• Meghana Kulkarni (54m): trending to the pure and tranquil, with Keshav Joshi’s tabla and Vyasmurthy Katti’s harmonium
• Raghunandan Panshikar (57m): an excellent longform take from one of Kishori’s senior disciples (with Sahela Re @ 49:17)
• Shahid Parvez (76m): an ever-restrained take, showcasing some calmer dimensions of the Imdadkhani sitar style

• 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

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.

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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: Deshkar, Pahadi, Jait Kalyan

Also compare to other ragas matching the generic swaras ‘Sa-Re-Ga-Pa-Dha’: including Bhupali Todi (S-r-g-P-d-S); Bibhas, Reva (S-r-G-P-d-S); Shivranjani (S-R-g-P-D-S); & Lagan Gandhar (S-R-gg̃G-P-D-S)

–Proximate Forms–

Shivranjani = ‘Bhupali komal ga‘

Jansammohini = ‘Bhupali add ni‘

Shankara = ‘Bhupali add Ni‘

Bilawal = ‘Bhupali add ma/Ni‘

Khamaj = ‘Bhupali add ma/ni‘

(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–P–D–S

• Reverse: SgmdnS (=Malkauns)

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

• Imperfect: 1 (Ga)

• Detached: none

• Symmetries: mirror (R—d)

• Murchanas: Bhupali set

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• Quirks: ‘atritonal‘ (no available tritones) • ‘maximal‘ (swaras are optimally ‘spread out’)

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–Global Translations–

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• Carnatic: ~Mohanam

S-R₂-G₃-P-D₂-S

• Jazz: Major Pentatonic

1-2-3-5-6-8

• Pitch classes (‘fret-jumps’):

0-2-4-7-9-0

(2–2–3–2–3)

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o • o • o • • o • o • • o

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–Around the World–

As discussed, Bhupali’s ‘Major Pentatonic‘ shape is fundamental to global music. While the ultimate roots of humanity’s shared scales will forever remain uncertain, it is notable that Bhupali can be ‘generated‘ by ‘stacking four perfect 5ths starting at Sa‘, i.e. S>P>R>D>G (below: and jumping twice more generates Kalyan, Bhupali’s sampurna ally: N>M). Some thus speculate that the scale may have been formed by tuning a sequence of strings by the perfect-5th overtone of the string before, thus ‘generating’ the scale after four jumps:

 

 

The real roots of the Major Pentatonic are likely much more complex than this (…I feel that scales are probably derived more from the somatics of singing than from geometric sequencing). Whatever its origins, it has undoubtedly been a foundational element of multiple global traditions for many millennia – although, despite countless sweeping claims to the contrary, it is not in fact a ‘human universal’ (from Ancient Greece onwards, many cultures have disfavoured pentatonic frameworks entirely, and others – from Balinese gamelan to Central African Banda polyphony – set their music to radically different tuning systems).

 

Still, it may well be the world’s most popular scale. For a haphazard shuffling of Major Pentatonic music from across the globe, sample sounds from South India (Mohanam), Scotland (Skye Boat Song, Scotland the Brave), Ireland (The Battering Ram), Hawaii (Henehene Kou’Aka), Japan (Tsuki), China (Zi Zhu Diao), and Albania (Moj Maro Moj Marine) – as well as classical pieces from French composer Maurice Ravel (Jeux d’Eau), Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg (Morning Mood), and Polish pianist Frédéric Chopin (Black Key Étude, La Fille Aux Cheveux De Lin), and a fantastic demonstration of its intuitive properties from vocalist Bobby McFerrin, live at the 2009 World Science Festival (below).

 

(Bhupali as the piano’s black keys)

It also underlies popular styles including blues (Allman Brothers’ Blue Sky), gospel (Sam Cooke’s Bring It On Home to Me), jazz (Branford Marsalis’ Mo’ Betta Blues), rock’n’roll (Duane Eddy’s Cannonball), pop (Beatles’ Let It Be), psychedelic rock (Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here), singer-songwriting (Jack Johnson’s Better Together), EDM (Avicii’s Wake Me Up), and beyond. And, given its straightforward nature, it is also a favourite choice for community-rooted forms – including English-language hymns (Amazing Grace, Swing Low Sweet Chariot), nursery rhymes (Row Your Boat, Old MacDonald Had a Farm), and folk singalongs (Auld Lang Syne, Cotton Eye Joe) – as well as forming a familiar ‘bridge’ for cross-cultural collaborations (cellists Saskia Rao & Ruth Philips: From Bach to Bhupali).

 

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—Power of the Pentatonic—

(Bobby McFerrin, 2009)

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“He gives 4 notes of a 5-note scale, with no context or explanation – and the audience is intuitively able to grasp what the 5th note is. Not only that, they intuitively understand the way the scale continues, above and below the range they were given. Bobby says this works with audiences anywhere in the world: something is happening at the fundamental level here… (Ben Mertz)

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• Tanpura: Sa–Pa (+Ga)

• Names: Bhupali, Bhoop, Bhoopali, Bhupal, Bhopali, ‘Ma-Ni-varjit Kalyan’ (n.b. ‘Bhoop Kalyan’ is occasionally used, although this name more typically refers to Shuddha Kalyan)

• Transliterations: Hindi (भूपाली); Bengali (ভূপালি); Punjabi (ਭੋਪਾਲੀ); Urdu (بھوپالی); Kannada (ಭೂಪಾಲಿ)

—More—

Further info: links, listenings, learnings, etc

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• Raag Bhupali: For more on the raga’s context and movements, see the aforementioned sources including Bor (“Damodara, c.1625, writes that Bhupali has a quiescent mood, pained by separation from her lover”) and Parrikar (“Bhupali and Deshkar are both audav-jati ragas…this simplicity of scale belies the finespun gestures with which they are instantiated, and the unusually wide compass for vistar they permit; considerable maturity and ingenuity must be marshalled to realise their full potential…”) – as well as analytical papers from Rao & Ganguli (On the distributional representation of ragas) and Chakraborty et al (What do fractals tell about a raga?: “Malkauns [is a murchana of] Bhupali. But while the melodic structure of Malkauns clearly depicts a fractal nature, in the case of Bhupali the fractal nature is not so prominent…[i.e.] only 84.73% of the variation in the response is captured by the model…”).

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• Header audio: Gat by Sikar sarangiya Sultan Khan (1990)
• Header image: The Chaman Mahal Palace of Islamnagar, Bhopal, built by Dost Mohammad Khan in 1715 (Commons)

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