S-R-G-M-D-N-S

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Rare to the point of near-extinction in its own right, the historic Maru is now best known as an ingredient of the highly popular Maru Bihag. In the words of scholar-singer Arun Dravid: “It is not well known, even in the music world, that Maru Bihag is a mixed raga…very few people know that Maru exists. In simplistic terms, if you remove the Pa from Yaman, what remains is Maru. You then combine Maru with Bihag, preserving the flavours of both: without recognising the combination, you cannot do justice to the raga…The Maru element of GMDN, SNDMGR is not recognised or sung by most people” (…he adds that this trend greatly displeased his guru-ji Kishori Amonkar, who proclaimed that “They murdered Maru Bihag; it is not the way it is supposed to be sung!”). Recorded by Dagarvani vocalists Pelva Naik and Uday Bhawalkar (who sometimes permit Pa in a supporting role), as well as by Indore founder Amir Khan (under the name ‘Maru Kalyan’: also hear his nearby ‘Hindol Kalyan’). The same SRGMDNS scale is also known as ‘Raj Kalyan’, independently conceived by Vasantrao Deshpande around the 1970s: some consider this raga to be the ‘inheritor’ of the Maru lineage, with Dravid noting that “today, many use the names interchangeably”. See ragmala paintings below – and compare to Hindol (minus Re) and other ragas ‘enclosed’ by Kalyan thaat [n.b. the Sikh form known as ‘Maaru‘ has drifted from its roots in the Maru lineage, now featuring double-Ma and -Ni amongst other quirks].

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• Raga Masterlist (1000+) •

राग मारू

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• Hindustani Raga Index •

—Pelva Naik (2021)—

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[alap, e.g. 9:52] S(NS) G R S N S G G G (M)G (M)G (M)G, M\G G (GN)S (S)G G (G)N N S, (S)N (S)N S G G…

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• Ragmalas •

Historic miniature paintings (learn more)

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“Maru Ragini: A Rajput warrior holding a spear, with sword and katar [dagger] attached to his belt, stands alone with his camel at the banks of a stream – verdant, in contrast to the intense hot yellow of the ground behind them. The warrior’s belt is called a ‘kamarband’ in Persian, and is the origin of the English ‘cummerbund’…” (Rajput, c.1670) / “The essence of Maru Raga: associated with longing, separation, and the anticipation of love…” (Rajasthan, c.1750)

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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: Raj Kalyan

See all shadav ragas which omit Pa – and also compare to other members of the Kalyan raganga

–Swara Geometries–

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• Core form: S–R–G–M–D–N–S

• Reverse: SrgMdnS (=Mangal Gujari)

• Complement: SrgmPdnS (=Bhairavi)

• Imperfect: 2 (Sa, Ma)

• Detached: 1 (Sa)

• Symmetries: none

• Murchanas: Jansammohini (on Re)

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• Quirks: ‘detached Sa‘ • ‘reverse form = negative form‘

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–Global Translations–

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• Carnatic: ~Mruganandana

S-R₂-G₃-M₂-D₂-N₃-S

• Jazz: Lydian (no 5th)

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

• Pitch classes (‘fret-jumps’):

0-2-4-6-9-11-0

(2–2–2–3–2–1)

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o • o • o • o • • o • o o

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• Tanpura: Sa–Dha

• Names: Maru, Maaru (n.b. some use the term ‘Raj Kalyan‘ interchangably: see above)

• Transliterations: Hindi (मारू)

—Uday Bhawalkar (2013)—