S-r-g-M-P-d-N-S

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Multani is an afternoon raga of angular shape and ancient heritage, which, while matching the seven swaras of Todi thaat, takes unique phrase patterns – with re and dha omitted in ascent and generally rendered durbal throughout. Bhatkhande is said to have considered it the ‘daytime’ counterpart of Basant – while, in Deepak Raja’s personal reflection, its melodic motions are reminiscent of “the oppressive afternoon heat…the virtual wilting of the body and mind under the remorseless tyranny of the North Indian summer”. The name points to presumed origins in the Multan region of Punjab, heralded as a holy site by Hindus, Sufis, and Sikhs alike for many centuries – with the raga itself seemingly having derived from the similarly Sikh-infused Dhanashree (Bor: “Faqirullah, in 1666, mentions two varieties: ‘Multani Todi’ and ‘Multani Dhanashree: the latter is…supposedly a creation of [13th-century Sufi scholar-saint] Bahauddin Zakariya”). Compare to offshoots including Madhuvanti (a phraseological ally which takes shuddha Re and Dha instead) and Madhu Multani (the same sequence with shuddha Dha, blending both ragas: a.k.a. ‘thaat #6‘).

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Aroha: NSgMPNS

Avroh: SN, PdP, gMg, SrS

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Chalan: e.g. NSgSrS; SgM; MgMg; MP; MgMPN; PNS; NSdP; MPgMg; SgMPg; MgSrN; NSMg; SrS (Raja)

–Venkatesh Kumar (2010)–

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“I associate this raga…with the oppressive afternoon heat of May in the Indo-Gangetic plains. The very special treatment of the re and dha tones in this raga suggests, to me, the virtual wilting of the body and the mind under the remorseless tyranny of the North Indian summer.” (Deepak Raja)

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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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—Phraseologies—

Melodies, movements, characteristics…

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[coming soon]

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—Moumita Mitra demo (2020)—

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“The raga’s scale base is at mandra Ni, and its centre of melodic gravity lies in the poorvang. The vadi is Pa, the samvadi is base-Sa, and the repetitive oscillation of the Ma–ga transition in descent is considered one of is signatory features. There is something special about the treatment of Re and Dha: according to Manikbuwa Thakurdas, the raga deploys ‘suppressed srutis‘ of Re and Dha – while Omkarnath Thakur believes that Re, Ga, and Ma are intended to be a trifle sharper than the standard komal frequencies. In contemporary practice, the deployment of Dha and Re in descent tends to be circumspect, if not subliminal – thus giving the raga the suggestion of pentatonic starkness even in descent. This treatment makes Multani a profound raga, and a challenge to musicianship…” (Deepak Raja)

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—Listen—

A brief selection of superb renditions

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–Indrani Mukherjee (2014)–

• Kirana-Rampur khayal (8m): a solo take set in the raga’s natural afternoon timeslot, filmed by Darbar in Bawali, West Bengal (as per Sangeetha Yajna in the comments: “To my mind, Multani evokes an emotion similar to that dilapidated temple in the background: a culture and way of life, majestic and glorious at some point in the distant past, allowed to decay and fade by the very people who were entrusted with its protection…”):

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[refrain, e.g. 3:02] S S(M)g g(P)M (PMP)d, P(MPM)g M\gr(g)S S(rSNS); S(M)g g(P)M (PMP)d, P, S(PgMg) S(rNS), S(M)g…

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–Ramkumar & Samit Mallick (2014)–

• Darbhanga Dhrupad (4m): another vocal-only rendition from Darbar‘s West Bengal expeditions, showcasing the Darbhanga duo’s signature flourishes – spanning everything from unique ornament shapes and dense, rhythmic nomtom to full-throated sustained tones in mandra saptak:

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[mohra, e.g. 2:07] g (g)r, r(S), S, SSSSSS…; S(r)N, r\N, N, S g (N)g\r…

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–Further Recordings–

• Bade Ghulam Ali Khan (3m): among the Kasur master’s earliest recordings, cut in 1939 (bandish: Ho Saheb Jamal)
• Kumar Mardur (6m): a restrained Kirana rendition, filmed by Darbar on location in Guptipara, West Bengal in 2014
• Uday Bhawalkar (11m): an AUTRIM pitch-graph (“Numerous epithets of Harihara, a combination of Vishnu and Shankara…”)
• Sabri Khan (14m): using his sarangi‘s scratchier sustained textures to summon a more subdued ornamental character
• Hariprasad Chaurasia (19m): joined by the bansuri of his senior disciple Rupak Kulkarni, plus Shubhankar Bhattacharya’s tabla
• Ravi Shankar (20m): comprising the second half of his wide-selling 1964 Portrait of Genius album, with Alla Rakha on tabla
• Amir Khan (26m): Parrikar again: “Amir Khan’s Multani is the musical equivalent of Mt. Everest, the loftiest of them all…”
• Rajan & Sajan Mishra (29m): full-voiced khayal compositions in vilambit and drut ektal, from the Sangeet Sartaj collection
• Nikhil Banerjee (41m): an extended rendition from the 1970s, supported by Farrukhabad tabla exponent Kanai Dutt
• Uday Bhawalkar (78m): from a 2017 FEA Diwali concert, with Pratap Awad on pakhawaj and two vocal students in support
• Amjad Ali Khan (82m): the sarod innovator captured at the peak of his powers, exploring a winding composition in dhamar
• Wasifuddin Dagar (84m): a rare Dhrupad rendition from a 2022 baithak in Mumbai, with Sukhad Munde on pakhawaj

• 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: Todi thaat, Todi, Annapurna

–Proximate Forms–

Gujiri Todi = ‘Multani no Pa‘

Bhupali Todi = ‘Multani no Ma/Ni‘

Shree = ‘Multani shuddha Ga‘

Simhendra Madhya. = ‘Multani shuddha Re‘

(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–M–P–d–N–S

• Reverse: SrGmMDNS (=Lalita Sohini)

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

• Imperfect: 2 (ga, Pa)

• Detached: none

• Symmetries: none

• Murchanas: Todi set

–Global Translations–

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• Carnatic: ~Shubhapantuvarali (mela #45)

S-R₁-G₂-M₂-P-D₁-N₃-S

• Jazz: Lydian b2 b3 b6

1-b2-b3-#4-5-b6-7-8

• Pitch classes (‘fret-jumps’):

0-1-3-6-7-8-11-0

(1–2–3–1–1–3–1)

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o o • o • • o o o • • o o

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• Tanpura: Sa–Pa (+Ni)

• Names: Multani, Multan, Mooltani

• Transliterations: Hindi (मुलतानी); Bengali (মুলতানি); Urdu (ملتانی); Punjabi (ملتانی); Kannada (ಮುಲ್ತಾನಿ)

—More—

Further info: links, listenings, learnings, etc

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• Raag Multani: [coming soon]

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• Header audio: Bada khayal by Jaipur-Atrauli vocalist Ashwini Bhide Deshpande (1989)
• Header image: ‘Drought: Soil Erosion and Degradation’ (YPTE)

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