S-R-m-P-d-S A rare ‘audav Asavari’ raga, matching the swaras of ‘komal Dha Durga’ (or ‘shuddha Re Gunakri‘). While relatively free of specific melodic constraints, the dha assumes natural prominence due to its disbalancing effects: it is involved in the only hemitonic pairing (Pd) and also the widest adjacent jump (dS), while serving as the only […]
• Raag Shobhawari •
• Raag Rasaranjani •
S-R-m-D-N-S A rare, oddly-shaped audav raga formed by omitting Ga and Pa from Bilawal thaat – essentially, ‘removing the major triad from the major scale’ (it can also be seen as ‘Bhavani plus Ni’, Rajeshwari Re-for-ga’, or ‘Durga Ni-for-Pa’). Vocalist Sakuntala Narasimhan, introducing a drut khayal, cites Rasaranjani as an innovation of her Rampur gharana […]
• Raag Meghranjani •
S-r-G-mM-N-S A truly odd scale form, Meghranjani can be interpreted as either ‘Bhairav minus Pa & dha‘ (SrGmNS) or ‘Lalit minus dha‘ (SrGmMNS) – producing a strange shape which omits two consecutive generic swaras (see other such ragas in my ‘consecutive varjits‘ category, including Adbhut Kalyan, Devranjani, & Malashree). Originally borrowed from the Carnatic Megharanjani, the […]
• Raag Madhuradhwani •
S-G-m-D-nN-S As per Parrikar, “Durga Khamaj-thaat is also known as ‘Madhuradhwani’. This is not a popular raga, its base eroded by the popularity of Rageshri…but is part of the Dagar family repertoire”. While some renditions will skip Ni in ascent, traditional Dhrupad presentations will render it shuddha in aroha and komal in avroh – along with […]
• Raag Devranjani •
S-m-P-d-N-S Stretched by the emptiness of a vast Sa–ma poorvang jump, Devranjani is formed by removing the re and Ga from Bhairav. Abhirang offers up both ‘shuddha Ni’ and ‘double Ni’ variants, with the former appearing to be predominant – while Bhatkhande’s early 20th-century works discuss the unavoidable strength of the ascending phrase Sm, mP […]
• Raag Chandramadhu •
S-g-M-P-n-S An angular pentatonic form conjured up by vocalist Amir Khan only a short time before his untimely death in a 1974 car accident – indeed, it is unclear if he ever formally named his new creation (I’ve seen it referred to as ‘Bhushwati’ and ‘Amarpriya’, and at least two releases just list it as […]
• Raag Adbhut Kalyan •
S-R-G-D-N-S An uncommon Kalyan variety, named Adbhut (‘Wondrous’) for omitting two of Kalyan’s most vital swaras (Ma & Pa). Remains popular in the Dagarvani Dhrupad, but few others have risen to the centreless challenges of losing both mid-saptak swaras. Aminuddin Dagar reportedly considered the raga to be an offshoot of Khem Kalyan, while Uday Bhawalkar links […]
• Raag Abhogi •
S-R-g-m-D-S A rare instance of an ‘audav Kanada’ raga, Abhogi’s swara-set resembles ‘Bageshri‘s aroha without ni’ – presenting a clustered poorvang and sparse uttarang (SRgm; DS). As per Tanarang, the raga’s capacity for Darbaric concluding motions (mgmRS) summons “a deep atmosphere” – with the vacant upper scale presenting performers with a curious creative challenge. Abhogi is […]
• Raag Milan Gandhar •
S-gG-P-D-n-S An enchanting yet ultra-rare raga created by pioneering Punjabi vocalist Salamat Ali Khan, running along the lines of ‘Kalavati with komal ga in avroh’ (often as PDPgS or SngS), bringing shades of Kafi. A 1965 Salamat & Nazakat performance in Kabul (bandish: Piya More Angan Aaye & Tana Dhere Na Dhim), emphatically places the […]
• Raag Sundarkali •
S-r-G-P-n-S A relatively straightforward audav raga, Sundarkali takes the swaras of ‘Ahir Bhairav no ma/dha’. Anjani Kumar Gupta’s concise bansuri rendition is the only full recording I could find (alap transcribed below), although Tanarang’s disciple Prakash Vishwanath Ringe has released a brief selection of khayal demos (and sax player Mister D Cell has used it to […]
• Raag Rajeshwari •
S-g-m-D-N-S Taking the swaras of ‘Chandrakauns shuddha Dha’, Rajeshwari’s five tones bring an idiosyncratic spin to the Kaunsi-ang, coloured with diffuse tensions. All poorvang swaras are set to their lowest specific position (Sgm), and all uttarang swaras are set to their highest (DNS), with the relief-bringing Re–Pa axis banished throughout. The resulting scale presents significant challenges […]
• Raag Gunakri •
S-r-m-P-d-S Taking the swaras of ‘Bhairav no Ga & Ni’, Gunakri – described by AUTRIM as “serious and peaceful” – brings out the character of its parent raganga via an oscillating komal re, and movements patterns including Sd, dP and SdSr, rS (although Jairazbhoy prefers to analyse it via the geometries of Basant Mukhari). Bose gives a […]
• Raag Bhinna Shadja •
S-G-m-D-N-S Often characterised as the ‘older form’ of today’s Kaushik Dhwani, Bhinna Shadja’s lineage stretches back well over 1000 years. It appears in numerous ancient shastras: notably including Matangamuni’s Brihaddeshi (~8th-century), Abhinavagupta 11th-century writings (“Bhinnashadaja, Kaushiki, and Bhinnapanchama are favoured in Summer”), and Sarangdeva’s 13th-century Sangita Ratnakara – which describes its scale form in remarkably […]
• Raag Madhuranjani •
S-g-m-P-N-S The name ‘Madhuranjani’ is used in reference to several distinct forms. The best-known incarnation is based on the SgmPNS swara set of ‘Dhani shuddha Ni’ (or ‘Patdeep no Re/Dha’) – as exemplified by vocalists such as Abhirang, Sawani Shende, and Jitendra Abhisheki, who also includes flourishes of shuddha Re in avroh. Some suggest that […]
• Raag Lilavati •
S-g-P-D-n-S Confusion persists around which melodic forms assume the name ‘Lilavati’, with several incongruous examples in sporadic modern circulation – as per Biswarup Ghosh Dastidar, “Lilavati/Leelavati can be sung in Kafi thaat [SRgPdS], Khamaj thaat [SgPDnS] and Bhairav thaat [SrGmPnS]”. Abhirang sets his to the tones to the second of these (as a ‘komal ga Kalavati’), […]
• Raag Lagan Gandhar •
S-R-gg̃G-P-D-S An oddball product of Kumar Gandharva’s limitless imagination, Lagan Gandhar (‘Full Ga Concentration’) is distinguished by taking a ‘triple-Ga’ – with an additional ‘quarter-tone’ sruti lying roughly halfway between the komal and shuddha shades (‘komalaa gandhar’: notated here as ‘g̃’). This strange tone-trio is often navigated in adjacent manner, with slow glides serving to […]
• Raag Jait •
S-rR-G-P-D-S A charming audav raga with several disparate branches. In particular, the treatment of Re varies (some render it komal, and others shuddha, while Jaipur-Atrauli singers employ both forms) – with Dha, which must be taken vakra, also showing up in both its variants (albeit not within the same performance). Indeed, even renditions by the […]
• Raag Japaniya •
S-R-g-P-d-S The SRgPdS swara set – equivalent to ‘Shivranjani komal dha’ or ‘Bhupali Todi shuddha Re’ – exists in several distinct Hindustani guises. Patiala vocalists title it ‘Lilavati’, however this name is also applied to a separate ‘Kalavati komal ga’ raga by others. The same scale also appears under the intriguing title of ‘Japaneeya / […]
• Raag Audav Meladalan •
S-g-mM-n-S For the 366th page in the project, I offer something a little different. Instead of documenting an already-existing raga, I humbly present a fresh scale form, intended as a challenge for intrepid artists who wish to break new melodic ground. The SgmMnS sequence – as far as I can tell, untouched in Hindustani raga […]
• Raag Kanakangi •
S-rR-m-P-dD-S A truly strange scale, Kanakangi is a recent import from the South, derived from the very first raga on the Carnatic melakarta wheel. As such, all 7 generic swaras are set to their lowest possible positions: a principle which, under Hindustani axioms, would produce Bhairavi (SrgmPdnS) – however the Carnatic swara-system allows for ‘double-komal’ […]
