Shivawanti | SRgMPDS | Hindustani Raga Index

S-R-g-M-P-D-S

A sparsely-documented modern creation of sitar and surbahar legend Imrat Khan – kindly brought to my attention by his student Chris Stephens via the Chandrakantha forum: “In regard to the ‘idiosyncratic’ Etawah ragas, here’s a video of [Khan] playing Shivawanti, which he described as a combination of Shivranjani and Madhuvanti. I captured this in 2007 in St. Louis, and it is likely the only recording of this raga…” (UPDATE: a track entitled ‘Solo Sitar’ on Khan’s 2008 album Yoga Music on Sitar and Veena is a studio take of Shivawanti: as confirmed by Stephens, who has since recorded a pair of his own gat covers). Seemingly unperformed by anyone else, the raga is prakriti (if Khan’s occasional flashes of komal ni are discounted) with Vijayanagari, a rare Carnatic import – as well as late vocalist Rashid Khan’s recently-created Priyaranjani (a different spin on the same ‘Madhuvanti + Shivranjani’ concept, which prefers slower tempos and shades of shuddha Ni).

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राग शिवावन्ती

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—Imrat Khan (2007)—

[refrain, e.g. 17:40] R(g)R, S RS, (SD)PDP, S; R(g)R…

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• Recent Raga Index Updates (Jan 2026): Added new ragas: e.g. Asa, Basant Bahar, Badhans Sarang, Bayati, Chandni Todi, Chandraprabha, Deepavali, Firozkhani Todi, Gaud, Japaniya, Kaushiki, Latangi, Maru, Palas, Sarangkauns, Shivanjali, Shrutivardhini • ‘Bifurcations‘: analysis via ‘poorvang + uttarang’ formulas • DoGa Kalyan & the Beatles’ Blue Jay Way • Amir Khan’s ‘168 merukhands’ • Uncovered Prabhateshwari‘s origins • Transcribed Manjiri Asanare-Kelkar’s ‘Amodini‘ lec-dems • Experiments (e.g overtonal Bhairav, jazz Malkauns) • Survey of Sa Tunings • More Masterlist ragas (1000+)

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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: Vijayanagari

Also see other shadav ragas which omit Ni

–Swara Geometries–

• Core form: S–R–g–M–P–D–S

• Reverse: SgmMDnS

• Negative: 2-3-1-3-2-1 (e.g. Malavi)

• Imperfect: 3 (ga, Ma, Dha)

• Detached: 2 (ga, Ma)

• Symmetries: mirror (Gm—nN)

• Murchanas: none

–Global Translations–

• Carnatic: ~Vijayanagari

S-R₂-G₂-M₂-P-D₂-S

• Jazz: Lydian b3 (no 7th)

1-2-b3-#4-5-6-8

• Pitch classes (‘fret-jumps’):

0-2-3-6-7-9-0

(2–1–3–1–2–3)

o • o o • • o o • o • • o

• Tanpura: Sa–Pa

• Names: Shivawanti (n.b. titled ‘Madhuranjani‘ on at least one release, based on the same ‘Shivranjani + Madhuvanti’ formula: but, as noted by Imrat Khan’s student Chris Stephens, “Before a concert, he introduced the raga as ‘Shivawanti’, and his son Shafaat – who plays tabla on both the studio album and the live concert – confirmed this is its name”)

• Transliterations: Hindi (शिवावन्ती)

—Chris Stephens (2025)—

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Sa | Re | Ga | Ma | Pa | Dha | Ni

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George Howlett is a London-based musician, writer, and teacher (guitars, sitar, tabla, & santoor). Above all I seek to enthuse fellow sonic searchers, interconnecting fresh vibrations with the voices, cultures, and passions behind them. See Homepage for more, and hit me up for Lessons!