S-R-G-m-P-D-N-S

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Profiled by Parrikar as “a compound melody formed by joining elements of Chaya to the Malhar raganga signature [mRm\RP]…The nyas on Pa is important, but an inapposite nyas on Re or undue brightening of ma may tilt the development towards Nat Malhar”. Listen to his Gwalior guru Ramrang’s rendition, seasoned with a particularly prominent P\R antara meend – as well as Bhimsen Joshi‘s numerous takes, sometimes performed in conjunction with Chaya itself (bandish transcribed below). Aside from this pair of pioneering vocalists, nobody else seems to have formally recorded the raga – and neither can I ascertain much about its origins (although Savitri‘s writeup describes it as “a stamp of the Gwalior school”).

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राग छाया मल्हार

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—Bhimsen Joshi (1960s)—

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[bandish, e.g. 0:41] GRG R, GmG S, G\R, S SR, GmG(RS)R, N N\P, (P)NS, (NS)R, Gm(GR)G, RSR, S, S(NRS), R, Gm(GR)G…

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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: Bilawal thaat, Bilawal, Bihari, Tilak Kamod, Nat, Hem Bihag, Savani, Swanandi, Gagan Vihang, Maluha, Mand, Hemant, Loom, Manjari Bihag

Also compare to other members of the Malhar raganga

–Swara Geometries–

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• Core form: S–R–G–m–P–D–N–S

• Reverse: SrgmPdnS (=Bhairavi)

• Complement: SrgMdnS (=Mangal Gujari)

• Imperfect: 1 (Ni)

• Detached: none

• Symmetries: mirror (R—d)

• Murchanas: Bilawal set

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• Quirks: ‘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: ~Sankarabharanam (mela #29)

S-R₂-G₃-M₁-P-D₂-N₃-S

• Jazz: Major / Ionian

1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8

• Pitch classes (‘fret-jumps’):

0-2-4-5-7-9-11-0

(2–2–1–2–2–2–1)

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o • o • o o • o • o • o o

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• Tanpura: Sa–Pa

• Names: Chaya Malhar, Chhaya Malhar

• Transliterations: Hindi (छाया मल्हार); Bengali (ছায়া মল্লার)

—Bhimsen Joshi (1968)—