S-G-M-D-N-S

---

A captivating, challenging audav raga with all swaras appearing in their highest specific positions (i.e. no komals, and Ma, if present, is tivra: also see Bhupali, Hansadhwani, & Adbhut Kalyan). The name translates as ‘swinging’: indicative of the raga’s melodic character, which is built around ‘swaying’ motions between a SGD trio of nyas, with Ni rendered weakly and often omitted entirely in ascent (rendering upward motions ‘surtar’). The raga is prominently mentioned in numerous ancient shastras – with Sarngdeva’s 13th-century Sangita Ratnakara stating that “Bhairava, Kaushika, Hindola, Dipaka, Sri, and Megha are the six primary ragas”. Often portrayed in classical ragmala paintings with imagery of Krishna sitting in seductive pose on a swing, Hindol also has mythic links to Kamadeva, God of erotic love and romantic desire (“a handsome young man decked with ornaments, armed with a sugarcane bow and shooting arrows of flowers”). Intriguingly, the similarly-named Carnatic ‘Hindolam’ matches the swaras of the Hindustani Malkauns: leading scholars such as Jairazbhoy to argue that Hindol’s swara set may have arisen via a “semitonal shift of the ground note” (i.e. SGMDNS = ‘SgmdnS with Sa lowered a semitone’; loosely akin to the idea of ‘altered chords’ in jazz). Compare to Marwa (the same scale plus komal re), Kaushik Dhwani (shuddha ma instead), and Amritvarshini (a Dha-for-Pa swap).

---

• Raga Megalist (365+) •

राग हिन्डोल

Search | Glossary | Tags

• Hindustani Raga Index •

Aroha: DSGMDS

Avroh: SNDMGS

---

Chalan: e.g. SD; MDS; SDSGMG; SGMD; D(N)MDS; DSGS; SDMG; MGSDS (Bor/Vyas)

—Pandit Jasraj (2002)—

---

[refrain, e.g. 0:48] SM G, MGS, S(NS)D (N)SS; S(D) S(D)S (N)S, (S)G (G)SS; (S)MGGMD (M)SDDMG, MGS; SM(GM) G, MGS…

---

• Ragmalas •

Historic miniature paintings (learn more)

---

“Hindola Raga: opaque watercolour on paper” (c.1800s) / “Raga Hindola: from the Manley folio” (c.1610)

---

• Classifiers •

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 compare to other ragas matching the generic swaras ‘Sa-Ga-Ma-Dha-Ni’

–Swara Geometries–

---

• Core form: S–G–M–D–N–S

• Reverse: SrgMdS

• Negative: 3-1-1-2-2-1-2 (e.g. Jogeshwari Pancham)

• Imperfect: 2 (Sa, Ma)

• Detached: 1 (Sa)

• Symmetries: none

• Murchanas: Shivranjani set

---

• Quirks: ‘detached Sa‘

---

–Global Translations–

---

• Carnatic: ~Sunadavinodini

S-G₃-M₂-D₂-N₃-S

• Jazz: Lydian (no 2nd/5th)

1-3-#4-6-7-8

• Pitch classes (‘fret-jumps’):

0-4-6-9-11-0

(4–2–3–2–1)

---

o • • • o • o • • o • o o

---

• Tanpura: Sa–Ni (+Dha)

• Names: Hindol, Hindoli (not the Carnatic ‘Hindolam‘ – although the ragas likely share historic overlap: see above)

• Transliterations: Hindi (हिंडोल); Bengali (হিন্দোল); Punjabi (ਹਿੰਡੋਲ); Kannada (ಹಿಂದೋಲ್)

—Uday Bhawalkar (2024)—