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Interlinking the ragascape: Explore hidden inter-raga connections via tags & classifiers – swaras, melodic features, murchana sets, samay associations, symmetries, geometries, & more (all terms explained below)…

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राग श्रेणियाँ

• Home | Megalist | Search •

—Raga Classifiers—

(click for tag explanations)

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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

Symmetries: Mirror | Rotation | Palindr.

Chal: All-shuddha | All-komal | Ma-tivra

Gaps: Anh. | Hem. | 3-rw | 4-rw | 5-rw

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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. | Biha. | Bila. | Charu.

Raganga: Bhairav | Malhar | Kan. | Todi

Construction: Jod | Mishra | Oddball

Origin: Ancient | Carnatic | Modern

Dominance: Poorvang | Uttarang

Prevalence: Prachalit | Aprachalit | A-list

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Quirks: Atritonal | Fragmented | Centred

| Maximal | Self-shadowing | Komal Pa

• Explore by Swara •

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

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(Also browse the evolving MASTERLIST OF RAGAS: featuring over 1000 identifiable forms from the past and present)

—Search the Raga Index—

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• Also see the RAGATABLE •

• All Tags Explained •

(n.b. ‘m/ma’=shuddha, ‘M/Ma’=tivra)

—Swaras—

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-4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10+

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• The number of specific swaras present in the raga’s ‘core form’ (i.e. appearing in the chalan, excluding uncommon or mishra features) – e.g. Bhupali=5 (SRGPD), Marwa=6 (SrGMDN), Bhairav=7 (SrGmPdN), Bihag=8 (SRGmMPDN), Pilu=9 (SRgGmPDnN), and Khat=10 (SrRgGmPdDn):

—Generic | Specific—

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Re | Ga | Ma | Pa | Dha | Ni

r | R | g | G | m | M | P | d | D | n | N

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• Ragas which contain the named generic swara (Sa-Re-Ga-Ma…) / specific swara (S-r-R-g-G-m-M…) in their core form:

(Sa–Re–Ga–Ma–Pa–Dha–Ni)

—Varjit—

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Re | Ga | Ma | Pa | Dha | Ni

r | R | g | G | m | M | P | d | D | n | N

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• Ragas which forbid the named generic swara / specific swara in their core form – e.g. both forms of Dha are varjit in Jog:

(‘varjit’ dha/Dha, e.g. Jog)

—Double—

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rR | gG | mM | dD | nN

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• Ragas which contain both specific positions of the relevant generic swara (i.e. ‘komal & shuddha‘ for Re/Ga/Dha/Ni, and ‘shuddha & tivra‘ for Ma) – e.g. Mohankauns has double-Ga (S-gG-m-P-n-S):

(‘double’ Ga, e.g. Mohankauns)

—Only—

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r | R | g | G | m | M | P | d | D | n | N

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• Ragas which contain only the named specific variant of the relevant generic swara (e.g. Kalavati has komal ni, while shuddha Ni is varjit):

(‘only’ komal ni, e.g. Kalavati)

—Imperfect—

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Total: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5+

S | r | R | g | G | m | M | P | d | D | n | N

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• Ragas where the named specific swara is ‘imperfect‘ – i.e. the swara position 7 semitones above it (a perfect 5th) is ‘unoccupied’ (e.g. Gangeshwari‘s shuddha Ga has no shuddha Ni above [+7]):

(‘imperfect’ shuddha Ga, e.g. Gangeshwari)

—Detached—

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Total: 0 | 1 | 2 | 3+

S | r | R | g | G | m | M | P | d | D | n | N

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• Ragas where the named specific swara is ‘detached‘ – i.e. the swara positions 7 semitones above and below it are both unoccupied, thus ‘detaching’ the swara from all sangatis of a perfect 5th (e.g. Ahir Bhairav‘s komal re has no komal dha above [+7] or tivra Ma below [-7]). Also see ‘fragmented‘ (where at least half the swaras are detached):

(‘detached’ komal re, e.g. Ahir Bhairav)

—Sapta | Aroha | Avroh—

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Sapta: Audav | Shadav | Sampurna

Aroha: Audav | Shadav | Sampurna

Avroh: Audav | Shadav | Sampurna

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• Sapta: Ragas with either 5 (‘audav‘), 6 (‘shadav‘), or 7 (‘sampurna‘) generic swaras in their ‘core form’, up to a maximum of all 7 ‘sapta swara‘: Sa–Re–Ga–Ma–Pa–Dha–Ni) – e.g. Jog is audav (S-gG-m-P-n), and Bihag is sampurna (S-R-G-mM-P-D-N).

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• Aroha: Ragas which ascend with 5 (‘audav‘), 6 (‘shadav‘), or 7 (‘sampurna‘) generic swaras – e.g. Jog‘s aroha is audav (S-G-m-P-n-S).

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• Avroh: Ragas which descend with 5 (‘audav‘), 6 (‘shadav‘), or 7 (‘sampurna‘) generic swaras – e.g. Bhimpalasi‘s avroh is sampurna (S-n-D-P-m-g-R-S).

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—Samay—

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Morning | Afternoon | Evening | Night

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• Ragas commonly associated with particular hours of the day (n.b. somewhat loosely delimited: as per the traditional prakar system, the day’s ‘quarters’ fall at around 6am, midday, 6pm, & midnight) – e.g. Ahir Bhairav (morning), Bhimpalasi (afternoon), Shree (evening), & Bageshri (night).

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—Raganga—

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Bhairav | Malhar | Kanada | Todi

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• Ragas which originate in or draw heavily from the named raganga family – e.g. Darbari features the ‘gmRS‘ Kanada signature, while Megh is rooted in the rain-bringing mythologies of the Malhar lineage.

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—Origin—

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Ancient | Carnatic | Modern

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• Ancient: Ragas which have remained distinctly identifiable for at least several centuries (e.g. via mention in lakshanagranthas) – e.g. Shree.

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• Carnatic: Ragas adopted from South Indian classical music over the past century or so – e.g. Kirwani, Vachaspati, & Malay Marutam.

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• Modern: Ragas created since the advent of recorded sound (~a century ago), typically via a specific artist – e.g. Chandranandan (1940s: Ali Akbar Khan) & Antardhwani (1990s: Shivkumar Sharma).

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—Prevalence—

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A-list | Prachalit | Aprachalit

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• A-list: Ragas with established, enduring fame: the most popular forms in the modern Hindustani canon (see Deepak Raja‘s Ragascape research for reference) – e.g. Yaman & Bhairavi.

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• Prachalit: Ragas which are commonly performed today, without being included in the A-list category – e.g. Basant & Rageshri.

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• Aprachalit: Ragas which are comparatively rare (i.e. infrequently performed in the 21st-century) – e.g. Hemshri & Deen Todi.

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—Construction—

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Jod | Mishra | Oddball

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• Jod: Ragas formed via ‘joining’ others together (i.e. ‘aroha + avroh‘, ‘poorvang + uttarang‘, juxtaposed pakad, etc) – e.g. Nat Bhairav combines the poorvang of Nat with the uttarang of Bhairav (SRGm+PdNS), while Lalita Gauri blends Lalit and Gauri.

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• Mishra: Ragas which typically permit at least some ‘free chromaticism’ (i.e. those which allow individual liberty to include swaras or melodic sequences from outside the raga’s ‘core form’) – e.g. Bhairavi, Pahadi, & Pilu.

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• Oddball: Ragas with unusual construction features (somewhat arbitrarily defined): e.g. Malashree only has three core swaras, Adbhut Kalyan omits both ma and Pa, Devranjani has just two poorvang swaras, Sehera matches the hyper-symmetric whole-tone scale, Lalit has ‘mM & no Pa’ (see ‘komal Pa‘), Lagan Gandhar uses a mid-sruti ‘triple-Ga‘, and Patmanjari is more like a ‘performance concept’ than a specific raga. Also see individual ‘Quirks‘.

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—Thaat—

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10 | 32 | Enclosed | Inexact

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• Bhatkhande’s 10: Ragas which precisely match one of Bhatkhande’s 10 thaat scales (i.e. both share the same set of seven specific swaras) – e.g. Yaman with Kalyan thaat (S-R-G-M-P-D-N-S):

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• Enclosed: Ragas which have fewer than seven specific swaras, but are ‘contained‘ within at least one of the 10 thaat scales (i.e. all the raga’s swaras appear in the thaat) – e.g. Shivranjani with Kafi thaat (SRgmPDnS), and Malkauns with both Bhairavi & Asavari thaat (SrgmPdnS & SRgmPdnS).

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• Inexact: Ragas which do not fit precisely into any of Bhatkhande’s 10 thaat scales (i.e. no thaat contains all the raga’s specific swaras) – e.g. Devshri (SRMPnS), Charukeshi (SRGmPdnS), or any with double-swaras.

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• Sampurna 32: Ragas which exactly match one of the ‘32 expanded thaat‘ (i.e. any sampurna scale with exactly 7 swaras, which will thus have only one variant of each generic position: see Thaat for more):

(Expanded ‘Dartboard‘ of 32 thaat)

—Murchanas—

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Bhupali | Bihag | Bilawal | Charukeshi

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• Ragas which belong to the named ‘murchana set’ (i.e. all members are rotations of the identifying raga: and thus of each other) – e.g. Megh is a ‘Re-murchana’ of Bhupali (see Murchanas page for a broader set-list!):

(Bhupali‘s ‘Re-murchana’ = Megh)

—Symmetries—

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Mirror | Rotational | Palindromic

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• Mirror: Ragas which contain exact ‘reflectional symmetry’ (i.e. their swara wheel, if inverted along a theoretical ‘mirror line’, would look the same) – e.g. Malkauns (line: G–n), Tilak Kamod (R–d), & Bihag (mM-NS):

S-M | Sr-MP | r-P | rR-Pd | R-d | Rg-dD | g-D | gG-Dn | G-n | Gm-nN | m-N | mM-NS

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• Rotational: Ragas with exact ‘rotational symmetry’ (i.e. their swara set produces at least one murchana of itself) – e.g. if Gaurimanjari is rotated so that tivra Ma becomes the ‘new Sa‘, the original swara set (S-rR-G-mM-P-d-nN-S) ends up unchanged – while Sehera‘s regular sequence of whole tones is rotationally symmetric from all positions.

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• Palindromic: Ragas which take the ‘same intervals forwards and backwards from Sa‘ (i.e. the sequence of Sa-to-Sa semitonal jumps produces the same swara set in either direction: essentially just a ‘special case’ of mirror symmetry, where the reflection axis runs from Sa–Ma) – e.g. Megh (S-R-m–P-n-S: ‘2>3>2>3>2′) and Kafi (S-R-g-m–P-D-n-S: ‘2>1>2>2>2>1>2‘).

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(e.g. Bhupali, Sehera, Kafi)

—Poorvang | Uttarang—

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Poorvang: SRGM | SRG | SRM | SGM

Uttarang: PDNS | PDS | PNS | DNS

Focus: Poorvang | Uttarang

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• Poorvang: Ragas in which the lower half of the saptak space (‘Sa-to-Ma‘) comprises only the generic swaras listed – e.g. Dhani (S-g-m), Hindol (S-G-M), and Jog (S-gG-m) all fall under ‘Sa-Ga-Ma‘:

 

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• Uttarang: Ragas in which the upper half of the saptak space (‘Pa-to-Sa‘) comprises only the generic swaras listed (e.g. Kalavati (P-D-n-S), Kirwani (P-d-N-S), & Khat (P-dD-n-S) are all classified as ‘Pa-Dha-Ni-Sa‘):

 

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• Focus: Ragas with a melodic focal zone in the lower / upper half of the scale (often determined via vadi position or swara density) – e.g. Lalit is poorvang-dominant, while Kalavati is uttarang-dominant:

(Poorvang—Uttarang)

—Spacings | Clusters—

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Anhemi. | Hemi. | 3-row | 4-row | 5-row

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• Anhemitonic: Ragas which do not contain any ‘one-semitone jumps’ (i.e. the smallest interval between specific swaras is at least two semitones) – e.g. Malkauns (SgmdnS: interval jumps of ‘3>2>3>2>2′).

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• Hemitonic (‘2-row’): Ragas in which the largest ‘semitone cluster’ spans two specific swara positions (i.e. it includes, at most, a run of two immediately-adjacent neighbours: e.g. Chandrakauns (SgmdNS).

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• Cohemitonic (‘3-row’): Ragas in which the largest ‘semitone cluster’ spans three specific swara positions (i.e. it includes, at most, a run of three semitones in a row) – e.g. Jog (SgGmPnS).

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• Co-cohemitonic (‘4-row’): Ragas in which the largest ‘semitone cluster’ spans four specific swara positions (i.e. it includes, at most, a run of four semitones in a row) – e.g. Miyan ki Malhar (SRgmPDnNS).

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• Co-Co-Cohemitonic (‘5-row’): Ragas with a ‘semitone cluster’ spanning five or more specific swara positions (i.e. it includes a run of at least five semitones in a row) – e.g. Poorvi (SrGmMPdNS).

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(e.g. Malkauns, Chandrakauns, Jog, Miyan ki Malhar, Poorvi)

—Chal—

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All-shuddha | All-komal | Ma-tivra

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• All-shuddha: Ragas containing exclusively shuddha swaras (i.e. only those of Bilawal thaat: S-R-G-m-P-D-N-S) – e.g. Durga (S-R-m-P-D-S):

(‘all-shuddha’, e.g. Durga)

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• All-komal: Ragas where all swaras appear only in their lowest specific form (i.e. Re/Ga/Dha/Ni are komal-only, and Ma is shuddha-only: equivalent to Bhairavi thaat: S-r-g-m-P-d-n-S) – e.g. Dhani (S-g-m-P-n-S):

(‘all-komal’, e.g. Dhani)

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• Ma-tivra: Ragas with ‘tivra Ma but no shuddha ma‘- e.g. Multani (S-r-g-M-P-d-N-S) & Vachaspati (S-R-G-M-P-D-n-S):

(‘Ma no ma‘, e.g. Multani)

—Jati—

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Equilateral | Balanced | Avroh+1 | Avroh+2

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• Equilateral: Ragas which ascend and descend with the same set of specific swaras (e.g. Bhupali: S-R-G-P-D-S<>S-D-P-G-R-S):

(Bhupali: S-R-G-P-D-S <> S-D-P-G-R-S)

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• Balanced: Ragas which ascend and descend with the same generic swaras, but not the same specific swaras – e.g. Jog (S-G-m-P-n-S<>S-n-P-m-Gg-S = ‘Sa–Ga–Ma–Pa–Ni‘):

(Jog: S-G-m-P-n-S <> S-n-P-m-Gg-S)

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• Avroh+[n]: Ragas in which the descent contains exactly [n] more generic swaras than the ascent – e.g. Bhimpalasi, with an ‘audav aroha‘ of S-g-m-P-n-S and a ‘sampurna avroh‘ of S-n-D-P-m-g-R-S, is ‘avroh+2‘ [7-5=2]:

(Bhimpalasi: S-g-m-P-n-S <> S-n-D-P-m-g-R-S)

—Quirks—

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Atritonal | Fragmented | Centred | Maximal | Self-shadowing | Komal Pa

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• Atritonal: Ragas which permit no tritones (i.e. no swara-pairs are separated by exactly 6 semitones) – e.g. all members of the Bhupali & Shankara murchana sets:

(e.g. Madhumad Sarang & Shankara)

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• Fragmented: Ragas where at least half the swaras are ‘detached’ (i.e. with no swaras 7 semitones above or below). It is geometrically impossible for scales with 8 or more swaras to possess this property (and the only possible ‘fragmented’ 7-swara interval shape is the ‘unfilled’ thaat #11/22):

(e.g. Rajeshwari [3/5] & Imratkauns [3/6])

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• Centred: Ragas with a ‘constellation’ that would ‘balance at the swara wheel’s centrepoint’ (i.e. its centre of gravity is located at the exact ‘middle of the clock’). All such ragas must also possess the property of mirror symmetry (essentially, ‘balancing along a centre line’) – although most symmetric ragas are not balanced (below: compare the ‘centred’ Bhairav with the ‘tilted’ Zeelaf, which, via the removal of Ni–re, becomes strongly slanted towards tivra Ma):

(‘centred’ Bhairav vs. ’tilted’ Zeelaf)

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• Maximal: with a ‘constellation’ that fills the largest possible area within the swara wheel (i.e. its swaras are ‘spread out’: like cricket fielders distributed around the boundary rope). For example: the full 12-note chromatic scale would fill the entire available space, and a 2-note scale would merely draw a ‘line’ with zero area – while all other swara-sets fall somewhere between these two extremes. ‘Maximal’ ragas are those which draw the ‘largest possible shape’ from the number of swaras they have available: indicating that their tones are ‘maximally spread out’ (i.e. a ‘narrow distribution’ of adjacent intervals: compare the ‘maximal’ Malkauns’s ‘3-2-3-2-2‘ to the ‘smaller’ Kaushik Dhwani’s ‘4-1-4-2-1’):

(‘maximal’ Malkauns vs. ‘smaller’ Kaushik Dhwani)

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• Self-shadowing: Ragas where the ‘inverse form’ matches the shape of their core form (i.e. the ‘unoccupied’ and ‘occupied’ swara positions are rotations of the same interval shape). All such ragas must have exactly 6 specific swaras (12/2=6): with the only examples being the ‘maximally-symmetric‘ Sehera, and all members of the Shankara murchana set:

(e.g. Gopika Basant & Sehera)

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• Komal Pa: Ragas with ‘double Ma, varjit Pa‘: posited by some scholars (e.g. Jairazbhoy) as leaving the tivra Ma to function more like a ‘komal Pa’:

(‘double Ma & varjit Pa‘, e.g. Lalit)

• Ragatable Search •

Also find ragas via my comparison table of all 300+ Megalist ragas: searching for hidden relations via swara-set spreadsheeting (allows for granular queries across various melodic & geometric parameters):

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—FULL RAGATABLE—

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“Why turn to the spreadsheets? While ragas are never reducible to mere scale forms, my own state of knowledge will never expand to encompass the true fullness of the ragascape either. Given Hindustani music’s complexity, we must ‘upgrade the mind’, using formalised methods to really see the hidden inter-swara connections…” (Ragatable Explained)

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