• Raag Malti Basant •

S-r-G-mM-D-N-S


A rare springtime raga, summarised in Narayanrao Patwardhan’s 1964 Raga Vigyan as a fusion of Puriya, Basant, Sohini, & Hindol (see chalan phrases below) – although Deepak Raja recounts a conversation with Ulhas Kashalkar, who states that “there is no Hindol in it…the raga has shades of Puriya and Sohini as well as Basant…Mainly [sung] in the Agra gharana, it is actually an old version of Basant…[formerly] known as ‘Mandir Basant’…” (hear Kashalkar’s Puriya-tilted take below). Raja adds that “Malti Basant may have evolved as a variant of…Shuddha Basant or Adi Basant”, suggesting a pre-khayal origin, giving a DhaGa vadisamvadi. Also refer to a rendition by Sharafat Hussain (“a free amalgam of Marwa, Puriya and Sohini, [with] a touch of Basant or Lalit”) – as well as the prakriti Lalita Sohini.


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राग मालती बसंत
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Aroha: SNrS, SG, mDS
Avroh: SNrND, MG, SmMmG, MGrS

Chalan: parent motifs e.g. MGMGrS (Basant); MGrS, rSN (Puriya); SDNMD (Hindol); SNrND (Sohini) (Raja)

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—Ulhas Kashalkar (2015)—


[bandish, e.g. 1:44] S(NrN)S/M G(MGr)S, DN(S)ND, DNrS, S, S(rSNS) N(D), NrS, S(NS)m (MmMmG)G, SGM/N\DMG, (S)MGS, S(NrS)MG, S(NS) DN…

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• 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 | 32Enclosed | 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.

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• Prakriti: Lalita Sohini
Also see other shadav ragas which omit Pa

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–Swara Geometries–

Core form: SrGmMDNS
Reverse: SrgMPdNS (=Todi)
Negative: 4-1-4-1-2 (e.g. Bhupali Todi)
Imperfect: 2 (Sa, re)
Detached: none
Symmetries: none
Murchanas: Basant set

Quirks: ‘komal Pa‘ (=mMP)

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–Global Translations–

Carnatic: (~Kashiramakriya)
S-R1-G3-M1-M2-D2-N3-S
Jazz: Lydian Chromatic
1-b2-3-4-#4-6-7-8
Pitch classes (‘fret-jumps’):
0-1-4-5-6-9-11-0
(1–3–1–1–3–2–1)

o o • • o o o • • o • o o


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• Tanpura: Sa–ma (+Dha)
• Names: Malti Basant, Malati Vasant, ‘Mandir Basant’ (archaic)
• Transliterations: Hindi (मालती बसंत)

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—Ghulam Taqi Khan (~1980s)—

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