(S-R-G-m-P-D-nN-S)

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Strictly speaking, Deepak is a ‘lost raga’, known to us through its status as Tansen’s fabled fire-bringing melody – said to have set off uncontrollable blazes when he sung it with full force at Emperor Akbar’s royal palace (…and requiring Megh to extinguish it). But, while its original swaras have been lost to the winds of time, many have sought to reignite the spirits of these ancient tales – with three disparate Deepak varieties having developed in recent generations: Bilawal-ang, Poorvi-ang, and Khamaj-ang (although, given the reimaginative nature of such projects, interpretations can vary wildly even within these three categories). Tantalisingly, while the Deepak of Tansen’s era is hardly likely to have just ‘disappeared’, we will never really know which modern ragas may have absorbed its essences.

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—Ghulam Mustafa Khan (2002)—

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[Poorvi-ang bandish, e.g. 1:56] PdP, S/rS, (P)GPG, (G)r, S, P (P)SS, SS rr, S, G r S, r S; P(d)P, (P)GPG, (G)r, S…

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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

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.

–Swara Geometries–

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• Core form: S-R-G-m-P-D-nN-S (if Bilawal-ang)

• Reverse: SrRgmPdnS (=Gandhari)

• Inverse: dha; SmPnS (=none)

• Imperfect: 1 (Ni)

• Detached: none

• Symmetries: mirror (Gm—nN)

• Murchanas: Bihag set

–Global Translations–

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• Carnatic: (~Begada)

S-R₂-G₃-M₁-P-D₂-N₂-N₃-S

• Jazz: Bebop Dominant

1-2-3-4-5-6-b7-7-8

• Pitch classes (‘fret-jumps’):

0-2-4-5-7-9-10-11-0

(2–2–1–2–2–1–1–1)

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o • o • o o • o • o o o o

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• Tanpura: (Sa–Pa)

• Names: Deepak, Dipak, Dipaka, (~Dagori)

—Shujaat Khan (~2000s)—