S-r-G-mM-d-N-S

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Lalit (meaning ‘Lyrical’) is an oddly-shaped sunrise raga, resembling ‘Bhairav with Pa lowered a semitone’. Among the most influential forms in Hindustani history, its distinctive ‘double Ma, no Pa’ structure has a malleable ambiguity, capable of conjuring flavours ranging from ‘sadness and anguish’ to ‘the serene and devotional‘ (as per santooriya Tarun Bhattacharya in 2020, “Lalit brings in freshness and new beginnings; one of hope and positivity in today’s time of the global pandemic…”). Melodically, Deepak Raja discusses “two facets [NrGm; MdNS]…Lalit’s distinctive fragrance is released by treating these divisions as discontinuous, and then fusing them together” – with komal dha often taking a higher sruti than usual. The curious, evenly-weighted treatment of the twin Ma swaras (e.g. GmMmG) has led some scholars to see the tivra Ma as functioning more like a ‘komal Pa’ (while controversial, adherents point to precedent in the ancient ‘Dhaivati jati‘ base scale described in the Natyashastra, a landmark lakshanagrantha published around 2000 years ago. Compare to other ‘double-Ma, varjit Pa’ ragas, most of which draw from Lalit, including Ahir Lalit, Lalita Sohini, and Meghranjani – as well as Pa-inclusive derivatives such as Lalit Pancham and Lalita Gauri.

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Aroha: NrGMdNS

Avroh: SNd, MdMm, GMGrS

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Chalan: e.g. NrGm; MmG; Md; MdNS; NrNdMd; Mm; MGrS (Parrikar)

–Jyoti Hegde (2014)–

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“In Lalit is embedded the seminal idea of the two madhyams placed cheek-by-jowl in intimate melodic communion. The quintessence of Lalit is the coupling of these two madhyams.” (Rajan Parrikar)

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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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• Ragmalas •

Historic miniature paintings (learn more)

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“Wearing splendid ornaments and garments, the fair mistress lies exhausted upon her bed at dawn after a night of passion, as her lover silently departs” (Madhya Pradesh, c.1685) / “Lalita Ragini: a man walks away from a sleeping woman” (unknown, c.1610)

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—Phraseologies—

Melodies, movements, characteristics…

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[coming soon]

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—Kala Ramnath demo (2022)—

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“Lalit has two facets to its personality: the geometric and the melodic. Bhatkhande provides the basic clue to both these facets: he recommends treating it as a two-part, discontinuous scale, split between the two Ma swaras, with the shuddha on one side, and the tivra on the other – giving SrGm and MdNS. This division does not yield symmetrical or congruent units: so achieve balance, the scale gets redefined, for phraseological purposes, in first-fifth correspondence: NrGm and MdNS [=interval jumps of ‘2-3-1’]. These divisions provide the acoustic basis for the geometry. Lalit releases its distinctive fragrance by treating these scale divisions as discontinuous, and in fusing them together: the welding takes place between the shuddha and tivra Ma swaras, with the support of either Ga below or dha above. This joinery gives the raga its unique melodic personality…” (Deepak Raja)

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—Listen—

A brief selection of superb renditions

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–Budhaditya Mukherjee (2017)–

• Imdadkhani sitar (7m): an engrossing drut tintal excerpt filmed at Darbar 2017, with longtime accompanist Soumen Nandy on tabla (at 4:51: observe the awestruck reactions of Jayanti Kumaresh and Manjusha Kulkarni-Patil in the front row – and also see another clip from the same performance):

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[refrain, e.g. 3:47] MG r(SN)S (G)m, m(Gm)G (m)MmG; MG r(SN)S (G)m…

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–Indrani Mukherjee (2017)–

• Kirana-Rampur khayal (11m): another take from Darbar 2017, with patient sustained tones giving way to impassioned taans in the latter stages – with harmonium and tabla support from Milind Kulkarni and Gurdain Rayatt:

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[refrain, e.g. 2:08] r(Sr)N Sr/MGG, r(Sr)N S(rm)G m; r(Sr)N Sr/MGG, r(Sr)N S(rm)G m…

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–Further Recordings–

• Bade Ghulam Ali Khan (3m): a famous early recording of the Patiala pioneer from the 1930s (bandish: Balam Aye Jaan)
• Aslam Khan (7m): an AUTRIM pitch-graph (“Since my beloved has gone to a faraway place, I burn in the agony of separation…”)
• Bhimsen Joshi (19m): a well-known studio recording from 1961, showcasing the Kirana gharana‘s patient tonal control
• Nirali Kartik (21m): the rising Mewati star sings an Amir Khan composition outdoors in Ahmedabad’s Natarani Amphitheatre
• Rakesh Chaurasia & Purbayan Chatterjee (23m): an exquisite tonal juxtaposition, balancing the smooth with the shimmering
• Ashwini Bhide-Deshpande (29m): a Jaipur-Atrauli highlight (bandish: Sau Sau Baar Balama & Ja Jare Balama Ja)
• Bismillah Khan (29m): D Srikanth: “Straight from heaven…transcends all boundaries of country, religion, race, and creed”
• Kishori Amonkar (43m): another Jaipur masterclass (bandish: Sau Sau Baar Balama & Piyu Piyu Ratata Papihara)
• Vilayat Khan (57m): just a few months before his death, the Ustad‘s melodic genius overcomes any limits on his dexterity
• Kishori Amonkar & Hariprasad Chaurasia (86m): in Mumbai with the double-tabla of Anindo Chatterjee & Balakrishna Iyer

• Experiments •

Novel interpretations of the raga’s essence…

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—Charanjit Singh (Ten Ragas To A Disco Beat)—

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“Charanjit Singh’s LP Ten Ragas to a Disco Beat was created in Mumbai in 1982, produced on Roland TB-303 and Roland TR 808 [synths]. The record boasted the soon-to-be thought of as ‘acid house sensibilities’: four-on-the-floor rhythm, with a flurry of synthesised melodies dancing around it. Perhaps our misunderstanding of the true roots of acid house can be attributed to Singh’s diffusing take on his own innovation: ‘There was lots of disco music in films back in 1982, so I thought, ‘Why not do something different using disco music only?’. I got an idea to play Indian ragas [with] a disco beat – and turn off the tabla. And I did it. And it turned out good…” (Far Out Magazine)

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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.

• Prakriti: (none found)

Also see other shadav ragas which omit Pa

–Proximate Forms–

Poorvi = ‘Lalit add Pa‘

Meghranjani = ‘Lalit no dha‘

Lalita Sohini = ‘Lalit shuddha 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–mM–d–N–S

• Reverse: SrGMPdNS (=Shree)

• Negative: 4-1-4-2-1 (e.g. Kaushik Dhwani)

• Imperfect: 2 (Sa, dha)

• Detached: none

• Symmetries: none

• Murchanas: Todi set

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• Quirks: ‘komal Pa‘ (=mMP)

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–Global Translations–

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• Carnatic: Lalitha

S-R₁-G₃-M₁-M₂-D₁-N₃-S

• Jazz: Double Harmonic b5

1-b2-3-4-#4-b6-7-8

• Pitch classes (‘fret-jumps’):

0-1-4-5-6-8-11-0

(1–3–1–1–2–3–1)

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o o • • o o o • o • • o o

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• Tanpura: Sa–ma (+Ni)

• Names: Lalit, Lalat, Lalitha

• Transliterations: Hindi (ललित); Bengali (ললিত)

—More—

Further info: links, listenings, learnings, etc

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• Raag Lalit: [coming soon]

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• Header audio: Dhrupad vocal elaboration by Wasifuddin Dagar (2004)
• Header image: ‘The sun emerges from behind the Panchchuli peaks’, near Kausani, Uttarakhand (Commons)

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