S-r-g-m-D-n-S A mellifluous modern form created by Ravi Shankar in 1968, via a murchana rotation of Kameshwari (itself the product of backseat travel boredom in Bengal). While somewhat resembling a ‘komal re Bageshri’, Parameshwari’s hexagonal structure is ripe for open-ended experiments, summoning its own colours and tensions – and, despite its young history, has already garnered significant […]
• Raag Parameshwari •
• Raag Ahir Bhairav •
S-r-G-m-P-D-n-S Ahir Bhairav’s unique swara set is inextricably linked to visions of the Indian sunrise. While the raga’s poorvang matches that of the ‘main’ Bhairav (SrGm) its uttarang presents its own geometries, taking a shuddha Dha and komal ni (PDnS) in a manner closer to the Kafi–ang (although many artists tune their Dha sruti closer to that […]
• Raag Jaiwanti Todi •
S-r-g-m-P-D-n-S An Ahiri–prakriti raga introduced by Maharaja Jaiwant Singh Waghela (1904-1980): a hereditary King of Sanand who also gained wide renown as a spiritual teacher, vocal educator, and generous patron of the nascent Mewati gharana (also hear his famous Mata Kalika composition). Its twists and turns are linked to the lineages of Todi, Ahir Bhairav, […]
• Raag Ahiri •
S-r-g-m-P-D-n-S Traditionally held to cure stomach ailments, Ahiri allows for long, kaleidoscopic melodies – with a scale form resembling ‘Bageshri komal re’, ‘Ahir Bhairav komal ga’, or even ‘Bhairavi shuddha Dha’. Artists are relatively free to roam throughout the scale – often accentuating the ‘equilateral triangle’ of nyas (r-m-D: an augmented triad) while also drawing on motions […]
• Raag Kokilapriya •
S-r-g-m-P-D-N-S The Carnatic Kokilapriya scale (mela #11) is still barely known in the North (‘kokilapriya’: ‘the one who is dear to the koel bird‘). Its unique shape, resembling ‘Bhairavi–Yaman’, has several curious properties: with an ‘all-komal’ poorvang (Srgm) and ‘all-shuddha’ uttarang (PDNS), it is ‘palindromic’ (=symmetric from Sa) – but 5 of its swaras are ‘imperfect’ […]
• Raag Bairagi •
S-r-m-P-n-S Bairagi (‘detachment’, ‘separation’) is a pentatonic form inducted into the ragascape by an early-career Ravi Shankar – as recounted in Oliver Craske’s superlative biography Indian Sun, p.106: “Shankar created Bairagi in 1949, [publishing] the raga, and a bandish in it, in Sangeet Magazine”. The ‘Megh komal re‘ swara set – which may well have […]
• Raag Bairagi Todi •
S-r-g-P-n-S Created by Ravi Shankar, Bairagi Todi replaces Bairagi’s shuddha ma with a Todi-intoned ati-komal ga, retaining the concise audav structure while presenting an odd mix of narrow and wide intervals. Sometimes matched with unusual talas (e.g. Shankar’s original is in ‘sade-gyarah’: a ‘fractional‘ 11.5 matra cycle divided ‘4–4–2–1.5‘), the raga is explorable in all saptak, […]
• Raag Asa Bhairav •
S-rR-G-m-P-D-N-S A joining of Bhairav and the archaic Sikh form Asa (Sanskrit for ‘Hope’), matching the swaras of ‘Bilawal double-Re’ – with the shuddha taken in ascent, and the komal in descent. Parrikar notes that “the Bhairav-ang is expressed in the poorvang [e.g. Gm(G)rS], and the rest of the contour looks to Asa [e.g. S, S(m)RmP, […]
• Raag Prabhateshwari •
S-r-g-m-P-D-n-S A seldom-heard raga associated with bansuriya Hariprasad Chaurasia, which (to my ears) resembles a blend of the morning Ahir Bhairav and the late night Bageshri. His student Rajendra Teredesai describes it as having “all the hues…beautiful, complex, yet spiritually uplifting…full of pathos and bhakti ras, a state of perpetual divine bliss”. Prakriti with Ahiri and Jaiwanti […]
• Raag Salagavarali •
S-r-g-P-D-n-S A rare ‘Ahiri no ma’ scale, combining a Todi-like poorvang with an Ahir Bhairavic uttarang. As per Parrikar: “S.N. Ratanjankar conceived of this raga…ma is eliminated to yield the following contour: SrgPDnDS; SnDPgPrgrS. Brilliantly exploited by Jitendra Abhisheki in a celebrated natyageeta. Watch out for the injection of a vivadi dosha via tivra Ma”. […]
• Raag Malay Marutam •
S-r-G-P-D-n-S ‘Malay Marutam’ translates as ‘Fragrant Hill-Breeze’. Maihar bansuriya Rupak Kulkarni explained to me in a 2018 interview how the raga “is from Carnatic music, which does not give so much attention to the times of day. We have decided to designate it as a morning raga, mainly due to the nature and essence of […]
• Raag Deen Todi •
S-r-g-m-D-n-S A near-extinct raga of uncertain origin, Deen Todi takes an ‘Ahiri no Pa’ form. Best preserved via an astonishing rendition by Kamalesh Maitra on the tabla tarang (a semicircle of 13 sruti-tuned dayan drums: below), accompanied by a multiphonic cluster of tanpura drones (tuned D-n-r-S). Parveen Sultana has also sung it live, and seems to […]
• Raag Anand Bhairav •
S-r-G-m-P-D-nN-S A rarely-heard member of the Bhairav raganga, which seems to have no precise prakritis. As per Rajan Parrikar, “the komal dha in Bhairav is replaced by its shuddha counterpart, and the komal ni is parachuted into the scheme in an [avroh phrase] SDnP inspired by Bilawal (in Bhairav-ang ragas where either Re or Dha is rendered shuddha, […]
• Raag Adi Basant •
S-rR-G-m-P-D-N-S An ancient form of Basant (‘Springtime’), named for its connections to the ceremonies of that season. Many see Adi Basant as the latter’s main ancestor, highlighting its historic prevalence in Dhrupad and Haveli Sangeet – and some, including Maihar musicians, consider it inseparable from Shuddha Basant (‘shuddha’, as well as referring to ‘pure’ or […]
• Raag Bhairav Bahar •
S-rR-gG-m-P-D-nN-S A ten-toned multi-jod raga, Bhairav Bahar’s descent blends the melodic signatures of several disparate ragas, notably including the springtime Bahar – although, as per Darbhanga Dhrupad vocalist Premkumar Mallick, flavours of Bhairav should dominate the overall impression. Bose gives a vadi–samvadi of ma–Sa, while also mentioning the existence of an alternate ‘double-Dha’ version (thus […]
• Raag Sundarkali •
S-r-G-P-n-S A relatively straightforward audav raga, Sundarkali takes the swaras of ‘Ahir Bhairav no ma/dha’ (n.b. the same name is also used separately as an alternate title for ‘Paraj Bhairav’). 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 […]
• Raag Dakshinatya Basant •
S-r-G-m-P-D-N-S A springtime raga described by sarodiya Joydeep Mukherjee as “very rare…adapted from Carnatic music” (hear him play it on “a very rare instrument, the Radhika Mohanveena”, created by Radhika Mohan Maitra in 1948 – accompanied by Subhasish Sabyasachi, “the first ambidextrous percussionist of India“). The name translates as ‘Southern Basant’ (to distinguish it from the […]
• Raag Bhatiyari Bhairav •
S-r-G-m-P-D-N-S A hybrid of two morning ragas: Bhairav and Bhatiyar. While movements of the latter take centre-stage, its typical PGrS descending phrase is replaced by Bhairav’s GmG\rS signature: Ramrang offers indicative patterns including Sm; mPGm; GmPDNP; DmPGmP; DNr; NDP; GmPmrS; PGmrS, occasionally seasoned with tivra Ma via MDS [n.b. ‘Bhairav-Bhatiyar’, though built from the same […]
• Raag Mangal Bhairav •
S-r-G-m-P-D-N-S A ‘shuddha Dha Bhairav’ offshoot, which thus allows for Durga-like uttarang movements such as mPDS. Ronu Majumdar also touches on Bhupali (e.g. SDS SDPDS: gat transcribed below), placing these passages in contrast to Bhairav’s signature GrS conclusion phrase. Subbha Rao’s Raga Nidhi Vol.3 notes that the raga’s movements are anchored in the pentatonic swara […]
• 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 […]
