S-r-g-M-P-d-N-S Pivotal to Hindustani history, Todi overflows with musical ideas found nowhere else on the planet. Some link its ambiguous geometries with ‘existential anguish and unsettlement’, while others hear ‘the playfulness of a newborn, content and smiling’. Rajan Parrikar hails it as “the most profound, finespun idea in melodic music…from ecstasy, to frolic, to pathos, […]
• Raag Todi •
• Raag Chandrakauns •
S-g-m-d-N-S Chandrakauns is a spacious raga of relatively modern origin, only becoming distinct from divergent strains of ‘shuddha Ni Malkauns’ by around the mid-20th century. This Ni-for-ni replacement removes much of Malkauns’ symmetry and intervallic balance, with the chromatic leading-tone resolution (Ni>Sa) bringing more prominence to both swaras. Given these sharper tensions, it is often played […]
• Raag Antardhwani •
S-r-g-m-d-N-S Among the youngest ragas to have found global acclaim, Antardhwani (‘Sound of the Inner Self’) was unveiled by Shivkumar Sharma in the 1990s, who discovered its unique hexatonic shape by chance while retuning his santoor from one raga to another (although their identity remains a mystery…). Adapting the geometries of Todi and Bhairavi, the […]
• Raag Gujiri Todi •
S-r-g-M-d-N-S A popular Todi variant named for its historic associations with Gujarat, India’s Westernmost state. Linked to the morning hours, it distinguishes itself from the main Todi by omitting Pa throughout. Tanarang cites a mood of “sweetness and karuna“, revolving around a deergha komal re – with komal dha also playing a particularly prominent role, separated […]
• Raag Madhuvanti •
S-R-g-M-P-D-N-S A shringara raga of relatively recent origin, Madhuvanti is geared towards evoking a ‘sweet’ flavour (‘Madhu’ means ‘Honey’). Rajan Parrikar cites “shared credits for its development…Vilayat Khan is said to have conceived it [in the] 1940s…and around the same time, Vamanrao Padhye of Kolhapur composed a similar raga and called it ‘Ambika’, after the […]
• Raag Shivranjani •
S-R-g-P-D-S A spellbinding raga resembling ‘Bhupali komal ga’ (or ‘Kafi no ma/ni’), Shivranjani’s melodies, described by Kalakar as “plaintive and haunting”, are said to appease the destructive rage of Lord Shiva (a similar mythology to that of Malkauns). Tanarang suggests illustrative combinations of SRgP; PDPgR; gRgSR DS, although interpretations vary greatly within the scale’s pentatonic […]
• Raag Patdeep •
S-R-g-m-P-D-N-S Derived from the Dhanashree family, Patdeep somewhat resembles a ‘shuddha Ni Bhimpalasi’ (akin to the Western Melodic Minor), with both ragas ascending pentatonically before revealing Re and Dha in descent. Its unique scale structure, which features a distinctive run of four adjacent whole-tone jumps (g>m>P>D>N), brings natural prominence to komal ga and shuddha Ni as the […]
• Raag Multani •
S-r-g-M-P-d-N-S Multani is an afternoon raga of angular shape and ancient heritage, which, while matching the seven swaras of Todi thaat, is a Dhanashree family raga with corresponding phrase patterns – re and dha are omitted in ascent and generally rendered durbal throughout. Bhatkhande is said to have considered it the ‘daytime’ counterpart of Basant […]
• Raag Bhupali Todi •
S-r-g-P-d-S A captivating audav raga said to symbolise spiritual purity, which essentially runs along the lines of ‘what if all Bhupali‘s chal swaras were set as komal rather than shuddha?’ (SRGPDS > SrgPdS). Most renditions are poorvang-dominant, drawing from the Todi-ang as well as reshaping phrases from Bhupali, Bilaskhani Todi, and other forms (given the uniqueness of […]
• Raag Jogkauns •
S-gG-m-P-d-N-S Created by Jagannathbuwa Purohit ‘Gunidas’ in the 1940s (also the progenitor of Swanandi and Jaun Bhairav), Jogkauns is usually summarised as ‘Jog plus Chandrakauns’. However, the Agra vocal master’s original inception drew more from the melodies of a ‘raised Ni‘ Malkauns offshoot than from Chandrakauns itself, which was then still in its infancy (Parrikar: […]
• Raag Kirwani •
S-R-g-m-P-d-N-S Despite its congruence with the Western Harmonic Minor, Kirwani has origins in the Carnatic Keeravani (likely via Ravi Shankar‘s extensive Southern borrowings): thus lending it a natural popularity for North-South jugalbandi duets, offering artists from both cultures a rich expanse of shared melodic territory. Like many Southern imports, Kirwani is comparatively ‘open’, allowing for near-free […]
• Raag Firozkhani Todi •
S-r-g-M-d-S A fascinating audav raga formed by removing the Ni from Gujiri Todi – leaving an angular pentatonic shape which, aside from Sa, contains no shuddha swaras (n.b. the same scale is known as ‘Audav Todi’ and ‘Chaya Todi’ too: although the latter title is also separately applied to other fusions of Chaya and Todi). […]
• 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 Annapurna •
S-r-g-M-P-d-N-S From my 2018 Darbar interview with bansuri maestro Rupak Kulkarni: “I lately composed Raag Annapurna: dedicated to Maa Annapurna Devi, my grand-guru [teacher of my teacher]. It is a combination of morning and evening ragas, so can be played at either of these times”. In 2022 I asked Kulkarni for more info: he described […]
• Raag Trishnaa •
S-R-gG-P-dD-S A charming late-evening audav raga which features both forms of Ga and Dha, recently introduced by Dagarvani vocalist Ashish Dha. As per the summary he sent me, “Trishna – meaning ‘thirst’ in Hindi – creates a plaintive, slightly melancholic mood…Dha is shuddha in aroha, and komal in avroh. Komal ga is used in both […]
• Raag Ardhanaarishvara •
S-r-g-m-P-d-N-S During my original search for the ‘32 sampurna thaat’, I couldn’t find a single raga that precisely matched the SrgmPdNS swara-set. This surprised me, given the scale’s inherently fascinating shape – with a poorvang-uttarang bifurcation of ‘Bhairavi–Bhairav’ (Srgm+PdNS), equivalent to ‘Bhairavi shuddha ni’, ‘Bhairav komal ga’, ‘Todi shuddha ma’, or ‘Kirwani komal re’. While […]
• Raag Anjani Kalyan •
S-R-g-M-P-D-N-S A creation of Gwalior vocalist and educator Ramashreya Jha ‘Ramrang’ – named in honour of Anjana, a mythic Vanara princess fabled in Hindu lore as Lord Hanuman‘s mother. As per his student Rajan Parrikar, “the basic idea involves rendering the aroha of Madhuvanti sampurna, by taking in both [shuddha] Re and Dha. The aroha […]
• Raag Madhu Multani •
S-r-g-M-P-D-N-S An aprachalit raga combining Multani’s poorvang with Madhuvanti’s uttarang (also viewable as ‘Madhuvanti komal re’ or ‘Multani shuddha Dha’), which I found during my search for ragas matching the ‘32 thaat’ (=all possible 7-swara sampurna scales). Conceived by prolific rare raga explorer Abhirang in 2020, who banishes Re and Dha in aroha alongside other […]
• Raag DoGa Kalyan •
S-gG-M-P-D-N-S A Ravi Shankar creation taking the form of ‘Kalyan with komal ga instead of Re’ (‘DoGa’: ‘Double-Gandhar’) – which, despite never having been released in classical form, may have left its mark on modern music as a possible source for The Beatles’ Blue Jay Way, composed by Shankar’s sitar student George Harrison in 1967. At […]
• Raag Rangeshwari •
S-R-g-m-P-N-S Like Parameshwari and Gangeshwari, Rangeshwari (‘Lordess of Colours’) was created in 1968 via murchana rotation of Ravi Shankar’s Kameshwari (itself dreamed up during a car journey through Bengal). Resembles a ‘no Dha’ filtering of either Patdeep or Kirwani, although its shape seems to be unique – with Shankar’s takes tending towards wide-open, poorvang-dominant movements. […]
• Raag Simhendra Madhyamam •
S-R-g-M-P-d-N-S Borrowed from a South Indian ragam (mela #57), Simhendra Madhyamam takes the form of ‘Kirwani tivra Ma’, ‘Todi shuddha re’, or ‘Madhuvanti komal dha’. Despite the broad popularity of its Carnatic congruent (hailed by Charulatha Mani as “regal, meditative, bold, and striking”), the raga remains rare in the North – with its phraseological norms […]
• Raag Shivawanti •
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 […]
• 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 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 Devata Bhairav •
S-r-gG-m-P-d-N-S A double-Ga Bhairav derivative introduced by Agra gharana pioneer Azmat Hussain Khan ‘Dilrang’. As per Parrikar, the raga is distinguished from its parent with “the introduction of [an] avroh pragoya via the komal ga [mgrS]”. Some artists include subtle touches of komal ni, including Jitendra Abhisheki – who sings a madhyang-focused bandish (to me, reminiscent of […]
• 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 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 Viyogavarali •
S-r-g-m-d-N-S An invention of Agra vocalist S.N. Ratanjankar, Viyogavarali (or ‘Viyog Varali Todi’) was derived by omitting Pa from the Carnatic Dhenuka (mela #9) – resembling ‘Chandrakauns plus komal re’ or ‘Gujiri Todi shuddha ma’. All swaras except Ni appear in their lowest specific variants, with the use of ga restricted to Todi-ang avroh motions (e.g. […]
• Raag Vijayanagari •
S-R-g-M-P-D-S A scale of Southern origin, seemingly imported North by Gwalior guru Balabhau Umdekar, which matches the swara set of ‘Madhuvanti minus Ni’ (although the Carnatic original is classed as a ‘janya‘ derivative of Hemavati). While I can’t trace any of Umdekar’s recordings, Malini Rajurkar has performed a pair of his bandish: Sajana Ghara Avo […]
• 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 / […]
