- Ajay Parasuraman

Apologies for the really long break I decided to take. Hope to be more regular from now on. Maintaining the balance between Carnatic and Hindustani Ragas, my fourth edition of the “Identity of a Raga” series comes from the North.

One of those Raags to which you can listen no matter what time of the day it is or what mood you are in (atleast for me) happens to be Kedar. I write this post as I listen to a sublime rendition by Kishori Amonkar. I find it difficult to put in words what I’m going through exactly. Her voice seems to transcend all petty feelings and takes you to another spiritual level altogether. I sincerely hope I do some justice to this beautiful Raag.

Let’s start the proceedings with a little theoretical input from my side.

Kedar is part of the Kalyan Thaat, and is mainly sung during the evenings.  (Please check my earlier post on Raag classifications in Hindustani music). The Aarohan and Avarohan of Kedar are as follows:

Aarohan: S M, G P, M D, N S
Avarohan: S N D P m P D P M, R S

where ‘M’ represents the Suddha Madhyama and ‘m’ represents the Teevra Madhyama. The vyadi or jeeva swara is the Suddha madhyama.

The Carnatic equivalent of Kedar is Hamir Kalyani which is a janya of the 65th Melakarta Ragam ‘Kalyani’. Although the Aarohan for Hamir Kalyani is the same as that of Kedar’s, the Avarohan differs slightly.

Aarohan: S M, G P, M D, N S
Avarohan: S N D P m G, M R, S

There is a Ragam in Carnatic music called Kedaram which has absolutely nothing to do with Kedar whatsoever. So, kindly don’t mix up the two in your head. The notes for Kedaram are as follows, but forget as you read them!

Aarohan: S M G M P N S
Avarohan: S N P M G R, S

Kedar exemplifies Love. Hence, it is sort of ironic that it should get its name from Lord Shiva, the Lord of Destruction.

The beauty of this raag lies in its simple yet meandering nature of the (swara) usages that mostly revolves around the Suddha madhyama which is the vyaadi or jeeva swara for Kedar. Some of the popular phrases in this Raag include:

G, m, R, S
G, m, D, P
M, G P, m
M, S R S
D P m P
m P D N
N, D, P, m, P
m G, M R
m P D P M, R
m D P M, R

Something that I noticed as I was singing Hamir Kalyani was this: You can use R S N D P in your alaap/vilambit in accordance with the syntax that Kedar requires. However, that phrase is mostly used in Kalyani, so it generally isn’t used while singing Kedar/Hamir Kalyani. Instead, one hears N R S N D P (M D P m R etc from then on, say) or S R S N D P or even M R S N D P (as, in Kalyani, G R S N would be the right way to sing). Please note that although some of the usages follow the correct syntax, they need not necessarily bring out the bhaav of the Raag.

Also, while ascending, P D N S is not allowed, although M P D N S is! This is a very common mistake committed by amateur performers who are just learning the nuances of this Raag. While descending, the phrase P m G R S isn’t allowed. The correct prayoga is always P m R S.

Here are some of the Hindustani compositions in this raag:

1. Nanda Nanda – A popular bandish in Kedar
2. Jaane De Mohe by Pandit Jasraj. If you listen to the pattern of swaras that Jasraj ji sings in this piece, you will see that my description of the Raag fits quite well

3. This audio is what made it easier for me to decide what Raag to write on!

Here are some of the more popular Carnatic compositions:

1. Purahara Nandana by Dikshitar
2. Parimala Ranganatham by Dikshitar

3. One of the stanzas (paasuram) in Thiruppavai composed by Andal, ‘Thoomani Maadathu’
4. Maanamuleda by Tyagaraja

A huge number of Bollywood songs from the 60s and 70s were composed in this Raag.So, here’s a list of some of the songs that tingle your senses no matter how many times you listen to them:

1. This first song was the regular prayer song for Tuesday mornings at our school (a decade back, nearly!).
Hum Ko Man Ki by Vani Jayaram from the movie Guddi. Wonderful song to listen to that takes you back to those wonderful years.

2. Kisi Ki Yaad by Rafi from the movie Jahanara

3. Mil ja re by Lata ji. from the movie Benazir

4. Another good example of Kedar being used to its full extent. Bekas Pe Karam Kijiye from the movie Mughal-e-Azam sung by Lata ji

A couple from the Carnatic equivalent just to give a perspective:

1. From the classic Raja score for Mani Ratnam’s Nayagan.

2. From Rahman, for Mani’s wife Suhasini Mani Ratnam. Sung by the inimitable Hariharan

3. One from Malayalam

And finally one Kedaar piece from across the border, a song by the band Noori for the Pakistani music show Coke Studio.

So, that, I think, concludes this post on Kedar. I hope you had as much fun reading it as I did coming up with this piece. Most of the times, I must admit, I lost myself in the Raag completely. So, if you find any part of it being discontinuous, it isn’t my fault!

If you have any queries/suggestions/brickbats, feel free to mail me: [email protected]

Thank you for your time and patience!

Songs used for the art form Kathakali are generally composed in Manipravalam.

- Ajay Parasuraman

This next post is about a form of kriti not everyone would be familiar with. It’s called manipravalam.

Manipravalam, lit. ‘Ruby-Coral’, signifies the merger of two languages, traditionally Tamil and Sanksrit. This form of using two different languages in the same composition was prevalent in the Vaishnavite literature of Tamil Nadu. To read about manipravalam would partly be to read about the origin of a language. Early composers of manipravalam literature, having realized that certain Sanskrit sounds could not be represented by the available letters in Tamil, decided to merge the two languages and thus, Malayalam as a language was born. However, the current form of Malayalam took shape centuries later.

Many recently developed works of literature have mentioned that the earliest form of manipravalam was a mix of Malayalam and Sanskrit. I’d like to highlight that this fact is not true.

In Kerala, the earliest form of manipravalam literature can be seen in a work titled ‘Vaisika Tantram’ (lit. ‘The Treatise of the Courtesan’). Why I’d mentioned that traditionally manipravalam was Tamil and Sanskrit is, once the two languages had blended to form Malayalam, people started composing kritis in a mix of Malayalam and Sanskrit and labelled these compositions as manipravalam. So, currently, any form of literature/composition with more than one language is termed manipravalam. Note that I’ve said ‘more than one’ rather than ‘two’ because owing to ambitious literary pursuits by several writers over the centuries, people started composing with more than two languages. Most of the popular composers — Thyagaraja, Dikshitar etc — have composed kritis in more than two languages, usually among Tamil, Sanskrit, Telugu or Malayalam (rare).

Let me try and make a better understanding about what a manipravalam is by examining a kriti. I’d learnt this song about 6 years back. This happens to be a composition by Muthuswamy Dikshitar in the ragam ‘Sree’ and is set to Adi Talam. The lyric of the song is as follows:

Pallavi
Shri Abhayamba
Ninnu Chinthinchina Vaarika
Chinthai Kavalai ellaam theerum amma

Anupallavi
Hey abhayakare vare ishwari krupathonu
endanai rakshikka ithu nalla samayam amma

Charanam
Nı atyadbhuta subhaguna mulu vini nıve dikkani nera nammiti

Madhyamakalasahityam
Nırajakshi nijarupasakshi nityananda guruguha katakshi rakshi

The first two words, viz. ‘Shri Abhayamba’  are in Sanskrit, the next three, viz. Ninnu Chinthinchina Vaariki, are in Telugu, while the rest of the Pallavi, Chinthai Kavalai ellaam theerum amma, is in Tamil. Dikshitar goes on to alternate between the three languages in the anupallavi while in the charanam he uses only Telugu. The kriti ends in a Madhyama kaalam in Sanskrit with Dikshitar’s mudra (stamp) ‘guruguha’. This kriti is a beautiful example of how each of the languages is used just the right amount and one doesn’t feel a sense of one language overbearing the other in the composition. The important feature of this composition is that, even though three different languages have been used, the intended meaning has been kept.

You can listen to a rendition of this song by Shri. Vijay Shiva at the end of this article.

Other compositions in this ‘language’ are:

1. Taruni Njan Endhu Cheyvu in the ragam Dwijavanthi. This happens to be a Padam (song used for Kathakali) by Swati Tirunal which has the languages Malayalam and Sanskrit infused in the composition
2. Jalaja Bandhu in the ragam Surutti. This also happens to be a Padam by Swati Tirunal and has Malayalam and Sanskrit blended in the kriti.

To end on a lighter note, there is a famous song in the 1991 Priyadarshan-Mohanlal-Revathi movie Kilukkam called Ooty Pattanam which is comprised of lyrics which frequently alternate between Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada. In light of this article, wonder if Ooty Pattanam was lyricist Bichu Thirumala‘s attempt at a Manipravalam! Click here to watch that song, its fun.

That’s it for this post! I hope to be back sooner next time. Until then!

- Ajay Parasuraman

I know I’ve been away for an awfully long time. I’ve been extremely busy trying to get a(ny) company convinced that I’m fit to work for them, with varied results. Ok, enough said about that. On to today’s post.
Arguably one of the most popular ragas alongside Hamsadwani, Mohanam etc, Naattai is the janya of the 36th Melakartha raaga Chalanatta. The Arohana and Avarohana of Naattai are as follows:
Arohana: S R3 G2 M1 P N1 S
Avarohana: S N2 P M1 G2 M1 R2 S

There are disputes over the Arohana and the Avarohana — some use Daivatha while ascending (arohana). There’s also the case where Rishabha is not used in the Arohana.

Some of the common prayogas are: G M~ R. , N S R S R, G M P N P

The jeeva swara(s) are R, M and G. To a large extent it’s the Rishabha that gives this raga its identity more than the Gandhara or the Madhyama.

I had written about the association of ragas and the expression each one evokes. Nattai evokes the Veera Rasa. The essence of the raga is in how its sung — generally fast paced and hence, acts like a wake up call for the listeners — and this is why Nattai is generally used to begin a concert to set the tone for the rest of the kutcheri to follow. As is required by other ragas, Nattai requires strong lung power at the lower notes — lower Nishadha and Rishabha are quite common in its prayogas. And hence, it is a Ghana (lit. strong/heavy) raga. This is the reason why Thyagaraja chose Nattai as the first of his five Ghana Ragas to compose the Pancharatnas (lit. Five Pearls). The others, ofcourse, being Gowla, Arabhi, Varali and Sri.

Some of the more familiar songs in this raga are:-

1. Remember the scene in Anniyan when the family goes to Thiruvaiyyar to attend the Thyagaraja Aradhana? The shot shows Sudha Raghunathan and a host of other singers singing Jagadananda karaka in, you guessed it, Nattai. This song, as you may know, forms a part of the famous Pancharatna Kritis composed by Thyagaraja. Thyagaraja was a devout follower of Lord Rama and most of his compositions are in praise of Rama. In this particular kriti, Thyagaraja eulogizes Rama as one who is the cause of all bliss in the universe. This is the only pancharatna kriti that was composed in Sanskrit. All the other kritis were composed in Telugu, which was used in the court of the Maratha king Sarabhoji who ruled this area in the 18th century.

Thyagaraja uses S R G in the Arohana in this composition. If you have a look at the Chittai Swaram(s) of the kriti you can for yourself verify the usage of S R G.

You can watch the entire song here and here

2. Swaminatha Paripalaya – Muthuswamy Dikshitar. In this song, the composer praises the lord Muruga and his 2 wives Valli and Devayani.
Muthuswamy Dikshitar School does not use Rishabha while ascending in this raga. However, in this particular kriti, the chittai swaram has a Rishabha being used between S and G, which is quite uncommon when it comes to Dikshitar’s kritis. It is, however, not known if Dikshitar himself added the R there or someone else modified the swarams this way. The latter is believed to be the case.

3. Saraseeruhasana Priye — Muthuswamy Dikshitar

4. Maha Ganapathim — Dikshitar, again. Probably the most sung Carnatic song in the world!

There have been umpteen compositions that were made for movies. Some of the most famous ones are:

Dil Se Re
Movie: Dil Se
Composer: A. R.  Rahman

Chale Chalo
Movie: Lagaan
Composer: A. R. Rahman

Iyengar Veettu Azhage
Movie: Anniyan
Singers: Hariharan, Harini
Composer: Harris Jayaraj

Gopangane Aathmavile (Malayalam)
Movie: Bharatham
Singers: K.J.Yesudas, K.S.Chitra
Composer: Raveendran

Maha Ganapathim
Movie: Morning Raga
Singer: Bombay Jayashri
Music Director: Amit Heri/Mani Sharma
Year: 2004

Until next time.
And, keep singing/listening!

- Ajay Parasuraman

I had written about the raga Reethigowla last time. This post will be about the raga Darbari/Durvari/Durbari Kanada, which should compensate for the earlier post on a Carnatic raga.

The description of the raga would be better off with a little bit of story-telling: A loooong time ago (read: late 15th century), there was this poet called Makrand Pandey who was a priest in Varanasi. One daaaay, his son, Ramtanu, went wandering in the forests. As fate would have it, the legendary musician from Vrindavan, Swami Haridas, also happened to go wandering. Swami Haridas was so impressed with Ramtanu’s imitations of a tiger and an elephant that he took him under his wing. Thus,  Tansen was ‘born’! From Haridas, Tansen acquired not only his love for dhrupad but also his interest in compositions in the local language. This was the time when the Bhakti tradition was fomenting a shift from Sanskrit to the local idiom (Brajbhas and Hindi), and Tansen’s compositions also highlight this trend. At some point during his apprenticeship, Tansen’s father died, and he returned home, where it is said he used to sing at a local Shiva temple. Eventually, he joined the court of King Ramachandra Baghela of Rewa, where he remained from 1555-1562. It appears that the Mughal emperor Akbar heard of his prowess and sent his emissary Jalaluddin Qurchi to Ramachandra, who had little choice but to acquiesce, and Tansen went to Akbar’s court in 1562.

Legend has it that Akbar asked Tansen to come up with something different for his performance(s); Tansen created the raga ‘Durbari Kanada’, from the Persion word ‘Durbar’ for ‘Court’.

Story’s over

On a personal note, I love this raga. A ragamalika rendered by Madurai T.N Seshagopalan had one of its ragas as Durbari Kanada, and it will remain etched in memory for decades to come.

Durbari Kanada is usually sung after sun-down, although nobody follows it that strictly. This raga is part of the Asavari Thaat — uses all seven notes, five in the ascent and seven in the descent. Gandhar, Dhaivat and Nishad are komal (flat) and the other notes are shuddha (full).

The ascension of aroha is in the lower and middle octaves. In the aroha, the note Ga (gandhar) komal is used in a weak manner and a slow vibrato (andolan) on this note. The association of the notes Ni and Pa sounds pleasing to the ears. Its Vadi swar is Re and Samvadi is Pa.

Aroha: S R g m P d n S’

Avroha: S’ d n P m P g m R S

For reference, the set of notes in the Asavari thaat is S R g M P d n, and for Darbari, the role of the komal gandhar is crucial. In other words, the jeeva swara is the Gandhara here. Most common usage is ‘G M. R’

Parts of Hallowed be thy name, by the cult heavy metal band Iron Maiden, are speculated to have shades of Durbari Kanada! It’s hard to make out, you know, with their accent and all. I leave you to make your conclusion after listening to the song.

The following are some of the popular songs composed in the raga Durbari Kanada:
Shivadam Shivanaamam from the Malayalam movie Mazhavillu

Malare Mounama (Tamil)
Movie: Karnan Language: Tamil Singers: S.P.Balasubramaniam, S.Janaki Music Director: Vidyasagar Year: 1995

Jogi Aaya
Movie: Black n White Language: Hindi Singers: Sukhwinder Singh, Sadhana Sargam Music Director: Sukhwinder Singh Year: 2008

Azhage Nin (Malayalam)

Movie: Amaram Language: Malayalam Singers: K.J.Yesudas, K.S.Chitra Music Director: Raveendran Year: 1991

Kaatre (Tamil)

Movie: Rhythm Language: Tamil Singers: P.Unnikrishnan, Kavitha Krishnamurthy Music Director: A.R.Rahman Year: 2000

Tere Dar Pe Aaya Hun, Kuchh Karke Jaunga (Hindi)

Movie: Laila Majnu Hindi Singer – Mohd. Rafi Music Director(s) – Madan Mohan Year – 1976

Siva Sankari (Telugu)

Movie: Jagadeka Veeruni Katha Language: Telugu Singer: Ghantasala Music Director: Pendyala Nageshwara Rao Year: 1961

A Ghazal by Ghulam Ali

Can Carnatic be far behind? 

- Ajay Parasuraman

Identifying the raga of a composition requires ample kelvi njaanam. Listening to a lot of songs will help you know better the usages of swaras in the raga.

Each raaga has it’s own prayoga (usages) of swaras which give it a distinct identity, one that distinguishes it from all the other raagas — much like what a signature is to a person. Every raaga will have it’s characteristic jeeva swaras (lit. swaras that give life) with which you can differentiate between any two raagas. The jeeva swaras are the ones that breathe life into a raaga. The jeeva swaras, as you will see, form an integral part of the ‘main’ prayogas in the raga .

Let’s have a look at one raaga, it’s jeeva swaras and prayogas. Reethigowla, say.

Reethigowla is the janya raga of Kharaharapriya, the 22nd Melakarta raga. (The Kafi thaat of Hindustani music is the equivalent of Kharaharapriya.)

A bit about the raagas aarohan and avarohan:

Aa: S G2 R2 G2 M1 N2 D2 M1 N2 N2 S

Av: S N2 D2 M1 G2 M1 P M1 G2 R2 S

The variant of Reethigowla in asampoorna paddhathi is with a shuddha daivatham. We term this loosely as Reethigowla. In the Dikshitar scale of Raagas, this raga is <sometimes> called Naari-Reethigowlai.

However the blueprint N2 N2 S gives Reethigowla a unique personality, the movements of which are very characteristic and identifiable.

Essence of the raga: The essence of the raaga lies in the prayoga N N S, G M P M G R S, to point out a few.

Watch these renditions of Subbaraya Shastry’s Janani Ninnuvina :
1. By Sudha Raghunathan (Vocal)

2. By Bonala Sankara Prakash on the Veena

As the etymology claims, the raga has a power to direct. The name of the raga comes from the Sanksrit word for rule/way(as in syntax of doing things), thus denoting a sense of direction.

Listen to these amazing renditions by Abhishek Raghuram — he happens to be the prodigious grandson of the Late. Sri Palghat Raghu. Do note how he uses the swaras to beautify the raga (in Video 2).

Video 1
Video 2

And after that dosage of Carnatic, listen to this song, one you — all south indians, atleast — must be familiar with.

Kangal Irandal – Subramanyapuram – Composer: James Vasanthan

And this: Chidiya Tu Hoti To – Nayak – Composer: A R Rahman

And this: Sudum Nilavu – Thambi – Composer: Vidyasagar

And this Ilaiyaraja song: Thalayai Kuniyum Thaamarayai – Oru Odai Nadhiyagiradhu

And: “Chinnakannan Azhaikiraan” in Kavikkuyil sung by the Balamurali Krishna

And: Rama kanavemira from Swathi Muthyam

And: Meettatha Oru Veenai – Poonthottam – Composer: Ilayaraja

And finally: Naadha Vinodham – Saagara Sangamam – Composer: Ilayaraja

S0 the next time you listen to a movie song, you should hopefully be able to tell whether it’s in Reethigowla or not

And if the above videos were not enough, here are some more classical compositions in Reethigowla:

* Thyagaraja:     Nannu vidachi kadhalaku raa
+ Bale baalendhu bhooshini
+ Dwaithamu sukhama
+ Raga rathna maalikache
+ Chera rAvademi raa
* Subbaraya Shastry: Janani ninnuvina
* Papanasam Shivan: Tatvam ariya tarama
* Swathi Thirunal: Paripaalaya maam
* Ambujam Krishnan: Guruvaryoorappane appan
* Mutthuswamy Dikshithar: Sri neelothpala nayike

Reference: Kamala Keertana

- Ajay Parasuraman

In Sanskrit, the word ‘taal’ means ‘to strike with palms’. In Tamil, ‘taalam’ means ‘to clap’. In Hindi, the word means ‘beat’ and in Bengali, besides ‘rhythm’ the word ‘taal’ also means ‘sanity’. Taal is the rhythm to which a song/kriti is set in. A Taal’s rhythm repeats its cycle after a fixed period, thus acting as a time counter. A taal does not have a fixed tempo and can be played at different speeds.

In Hindustani classical music a typical recital of a raga falls into two or three parts categorized by the tempo of the music – Vilambit laya (Slow tempo), Madhya laya (Medium tempo) and Drut laya (Fast tempo).
In Carnatic Music, there are five categories of tempo: Chauka kaala (1 stroke per beat), Vilamba kaala (2 strokes per beat), Madhyama kaala (4 beats per beat), Dhuridha kaala (8 strokes per beat), Adi-Dhuridha kaala(16 strokes per beat). In each, the speeds are allowed to vary, but the fundamental rhythms do NOT.

As I have mentioned, the cycle of the Taal will repeat after a certain while. This ‘certain while’ comprises the avartan of the Taal.

Tala: In Carnatic

In Carnatic, each pulse count is called an aksharam or a kriyā, the interval between each being equal, though capable of division into faster matras or svaras, the fundamental unit of time. The tala is defined by the number and arrangement of aksharams inside an avartanam. There are three sub-patterns of beats into which all talas are divided; laghu, dhrutam and anudhrutam.

— A dhrutam is a pattern of 2 beats. This is notated as ‘O’.

— An anudhrutam is a single beat, notated as ‘U’.

— A laghu is a pattern with a variable number of beats, 3, 4, 5, 7 or 9, depending upon the type of the tala. It is notated as ’1′. The number of matras in an aksharam is called the nadai or jati. This number can be 3, 4, 5, 7 or 9, and these types are respectively called Tisra, Chatusra, Khanda, Misra and Sankeerna.

The seven families of Talas are:

For instance one avartanam of Khanda-jati Rupaka tala comprises a 2-beat dhrutam followed by a 5-beat laghu. An avartanam is thus 7 aksharams long. With all possible combinations of tala types and laghu lengths, there are 5 x 7 = 35 talas having lengths ranging from 3 (Tisra-jati Eka) to 29 (sankeerna-jati Dhruva) aksharams. Chatusra-gati Khanda-jaati Rupaka tala has 7 aksharams, each of which is 4 matras long; each avartanam of the tala is 4 x 7 = 28 matras long. For Misra-gati Khanda-jati Rupaka tala, it would be 7 x 7 = 49 matra.

The most common tala, one you must all be surely familar with, is the Adi (means Primordial in Sanksrit) — technically, the Chatusra-nadai Chatusra-jaati Triputa tala. From the above tables, this tala has eight aksharams, each being 4 svarams long. Other common talas include:

• Chatusra-nadai Chatusra-jaati Rupaka tala (or simply Rupaka tala) . A large body of krtis is set to this tala.
• Khanda Chaapu (a 10-count) and Misra Chapu (a 14-count), both of which do not fit very well into the suladi sapta tala scheme.
• Chatusra-nadai Khanda-jati Ata tala (or simply Ata tala) . Around half of the varnams are set to this tala.
• Tisra-nadai Chatusra-jati Triputa tala (Adi Tala Tisra-Nadai). Note that, as this tala is a twenty-four beat cycle, compositions in this tala theoretically can, and sometimes are, sung in rupaka tala.

I had recently been to a lecture demo on Pallavi renditions and would like to mention that the singer(s), more often that not, render them in the more complicated talas; such pallavis, if sung in a non-Chatusra-nadai tala, are called nadai pallavis.

Eduppu or Start point of a composition

Compositions do not always begin on the first beat of the tala: it may be offset by a certain number of matras or aksharas or combination of both to suit the words nad laya of the composition. The word Talli, used to describe this offset, is from Tamil and literally means “shift”. A composition may also start on one of the last few matras of the previous avartanam. This is called Ateeta Eduppu.

Taal in Hindustani Music

Taals have a vocalised and therefore recordable form wherein individual beats are expressed as phonetic representations of various strokes played upon the tabla. The first beat of any taal, called sam (pronounced as the English word ‘sum’ and meaning even or equal, archaically meaning nil) is denoted with an ‘X’. The first beat is always the most important and heavily emphasised. It is also the point of resolution in the rhythm. A soloist has to sound an important note of the raag there, and the percussionist’s and soloist’s phrases culminate at that point. A North Indian classical dance composition must end on the sam.

The beats of a taal are divided into groups known as vibhaags, the first beat of each vibhaag usually being accented. It is this that gives the taal its unique texture. For example, Rupak taal consists of 7 beats while the related Dhamar taal consists of 14 beats. The spacing of the vibhaag accents makes them distinct, otherwise one avartan of Dhamar would be indistinguishable from two of Rupak or vice versa. The first beat of any vibhaag is accompanied by a clap of the hands when reciting the taal and therefore is known as tali (or hand clap).

Furthermore, taals have a low point, known as khali (empty), which is always the first beat of a particular vibhaag, denoted in written form with ’0′ (zero). The khaal vibhaag has no beats on the bayan, i.e. no bass beats this can be seen as a way to enforce the balance between the usage of heavy (bass dominated) and fine (treble) beats or more simply it can be thought of another mnemonic to keep track of the rhythmic cycle (in addition to Sam). In recitation the Khaali vibhaag is indicated with a sideways wave of the dominant clapping hand (usually the right) or the placing of the back of the hand upon the base hand’s palm in lieu of a clap making an “empty/nil” sound. The khali is played with a stressed syllable that can easily be picked out from the surrounding beats.

Hindustani Taals are typically played on tabla or pakhavaj. The specific strokes and the sound they produce are known as bols. Each bol has its own name that can be vocalized as well as written. Examples of bols may be heard in External Links below. The beats following the first beat of each vibhaag are indicated with digits that are greater than 0, ‘X’ representing the first beat – Sam, the ’0′ Khali (empty clap) and each number an individual consecutive beat). Rupak, almost uniquely, begins with the khali on Sam. Some rare taals even contain a “half-beat”. For example, Dharami is an 11 1/2 beat cycle where the final “Ka” only occupies half the time of the other beats. Also note, this taal’s 6th beat does not have a played syllable – in western terms it is a “rest”.

Common Hindustani taals

Some taals, for example Dhamaar, Ek, Jhoomra and Chau talas, lend themselves better to slow and medium tempos. Others flourish at faster speeds, like Jhap or Rupak talas. Trital or Teental is one of the most popular, since it is as aesthetic at slower tempos as it is at faster speeds.

Various Gharanas (literally “Houses” which can be inferred to be “styles” – basically styles of the same art with cultivated traditional variances) also have their own preferences. For example, the Kirana Gharana uses Ektaal more frequently for Vilambit Khayal while the Jaipur Gharana uses Trital. Jaipur Gharana is also known to use Ada Trital, a variation of Trital for transitioning from Vilambit to Drut laey. There are many taals in Hindustani music, some of the more popular ones are:

Additional Talas

Rare Hindustani talas

Rare Carnatic talas

Other than these 35 talas there are 108 so-called anga talas. The following is the exhaustive pattern of beats used in constructing them.

Compositions are rare in these lengthy talas. They are mostly used in performing the Pallavi of Ragam Thanam Pallavis. Some examples of anga talas are:

Sarabhandana tala

Simhanandana tala : It is the longest tala.

Another type of tala is the chhanda tala. These are talas set to the lyrics of the Thirupugazh by the Tamil composer Arunagirinathar. He is said to have written 16000 hyms each in a different chhanda tala. Of these, only 1500-2000 are available.

That takes care of the Talas bit as well. Until next time!
And do check out this link as well – it has detailed descriptions of different talas.

Ajay Parasuraman

The previous post explained the various sub-categories possible for the Ragas in the Hindustani system. You won’t be surprised to find out that there are similar classifications in Carnatic, will you?
Apart from the much broader divisioning of the ragas into Melakarthas and Janya ragas, that is.

There are 72 Melekartha ragas (previously mentioned), each of which fall into one of the 12 ‘Chakras’. Thus, there are 72 / 12, or 6, ragas in each Chakra. Just like in the katapayadi sankhya where Vedic mathematics was used, here too, one can find a similar convention adopted to give names to these 12 Chakras.

• Indu stands for the moon, of which we have only one – hence it is the first chakra.

• Netra means eyes, of which we have two – hence it is the second.

• Agni is the third chakra as it denotes the three divyagnis (fire, lightning and Sun).

• Veda denoting four Vedas is the name of the fourth chakra.

• Bana comes fifth as it stands for the five banas of Manmatha.

• Rutu is the sixth chakra standing for the 6 seasons of Hindu calendar.

• Rishi, meaning sage, is the seventh chakra representing the seven sages.

• Vasu stands for the eight vasus of Hinduism.

• Brahma comes next of which there are 9.

• The 10 directions, including akash (sky) and patal (nether region), is represented by the tenth chakra, Disi.

• Eleventh chakra is Rudra of which there are eleven.

• Twelfth comes Aditya of which there are twelve.

Thus, the name of each of the 12 chakras suggest their ordinal number as well. How beautiful is our culture, no?

The 72 melakarta ragas can be divided into two parts. viz.,. suddha Madhyama and prati Madhyama ragas. When a given suddha madhyama raga’s M1 is replaced by M2, we get the corresponding prati madhyama raga.

For those who want to play each of these aforementioned ragas on a piano, check here.
That sort of concludes the classification of the various Raagas in both Hindustani and Carnatic Music, unless I have missed out some point(s). Until next time, keep singing (and reading this segment, of-course)!

Enjoy these wonderful renditions for now..

Ajay Parasuraman

As we’ve covered the basics of both Carnatic and Hindustani to an extent, it is time that we delved a little deeper into each of the individual entities associated with Classical Music; Raag, Taal etc. This post will entirely be about Raags. So, to those who are interested, read on!

Sept 5th happens to be the birthday of one of my favorite singers of all time, that of Madurai T.N Seshagopalan. I, on behalf of Music Aloud, wish him a Happy Birthday! May he continue to awe more and more aficionados with his serene voice and incomparable brigas!

That done, let’s get on with elaborating on the protagonist of this post.

The word ‘Raga’ comes from the Sanksrit word for ‘to color/dye’. The word has since retained it’s original purpose and meaning — to ‘beautify’, in a sense. As I had mentioned in one of the earlier posts, Indian Classical Music has 7 swaras or Sapta-swaras. In fact, these sapta swaras are furthered split-up into sub-categories. In both the systems, the Sa and the Pa are fixed. That is, they don’t have sub-categories, and are fixed for a particular pitch.

The other swaras, however, are divided. Let’s call the divisions as ‘versions’ of each swara. In the Carnatic system, each of the swaras, excepting Sa, Pa and Ma, have 3 versions. ‘Ma’ has 2 ‘versions’. In the Hindustani system, in a given seven-tone mode, the second, third, sixth, and seventh notes can be natural (shuddha) or flat (komal, ‘soft’) but never sharp, and the fourth note can be natural or sharp (tivra) but never flat. The following table gives the different divisions in Carnatic and their equivalents in Hindustani:

A Raaga is a combination of some of these and are ‘fixed’ for a Raaga and don’t change during the duration of a song/kriti. Ragas that have five swaras are called audava ragas; those with six, shaadava ; and with seven, sampurna . Those ragas that do not follow the strict ascending or descending order of swaras are called vakra ragas.

Every raga is capable of stirring an emotion. In olden times, each raga would have a prescribed time of day to be sung in, thus accentuating it’s purpose of affecting the emotions of it’s listeners. During the monsoon, for example, many of the Malhar (Megh Malhar etc) group of ragas, which are associated with the monsoon and ascribed the magical power to bring rain, are performed. Amrita Varshini in Carnatic provides the same ‘output’, so to speak. However, South Indian ragas don’t generally come with a specified time of the day. Hence, all ragas are sung during Concerts.

As the Great Nedunuri Krishnamurthy sir said once during one of his lecture demonstrations: “every raga is a raga devatha (goddess)”. Singing in a particular raga would then mean that the singer would be invoking the goddess associated with that raga. In this regard, I’d like to mention a work of literature that was the first to mention this associated of a raga and it’s ‘goddess’ : The Sangeeta Ratnakara , which is entirely composed in Sanskrit. This text was later made into a series of paintings called the ‘Ragamala’ paintings, lit. Garland of Ragas. The Ragamala paintings flourished well, far and wide under royal patronage, but, now, have faded over the last century or two.

The Ragamala paintings also happen to be a form classification of ragas. The raga-ragini scheme was a classification scheme used from the 14th century to the 19th century. It usually consists of 6 ‘male’ ragas each with 6 ‘wives’ (raginis) and a number of sons (putras) and even ‘daughters-in-laws’! As it did not agree with various other schemes, and the ‘related’ or ‘allied’ ragas (ragas with similar notes or swaras)  had very little or no similarity, the raga-ragini scheme is no longer very popular.

In 1570, Kshemakarna, a priest of Rewa in Central India, compiled a poetic text on the Ragamala in Sanskrit, which describes six principal Ragas– Bhairava, Malakoshika, Hindola, Dipaka, Shri, and Megha–each having five Raginis and eight Ragaputras, except Raga Shri, which has six Raginis and nine Ragaputras, thus making a Ragamala family of 86 members^.

Six are male (parent) ragas; the thirty raginis are their wives and the remaining forty-eight are their sons. These are listed as:

• (1) Parent Raga: Bhairav raga

Wives: Bhairavi, Bilawali, Punyaki, Bangli, Aslekhi. Sons: Pancham, Harakh, Disakh, Bangal, Madhu, Madhava, Lalit, Bilaval.

• (2) Parent Raga: Malkaus raga

Wives: Gaundkari, Devagandhari, Gandhari, Seehute, Dhanasri. Sons: Maru, Mustang, Mewara, Parbal, Chand, Khokhat, Bhora, Nad.

• (3) Parent Raga: Hindol raga

Wives: Telangi, Devkari, Basanti, Sindhoori, Aheeri. Sons: Surmanand, Bhasker, Chandra-Bimb, Mangalan, Ban, Binoda, Basant, Kamoda.

• (4) Parent Raga: Deepak raga

Wives: Kachheli, Patmanjari, Todi, Kamodi, Gujri. Sons: Kaalanka, Kuntal, Rama, Kamal, Kusum, Champak, Gaura, Kanra [36].

• (5) Parent Raga: Sri raga

Wives: Bairavi, Karnati, Gauri, Asavari, Sindhavi. Sons: Salu, Sarag, Sagra, Gaund, Gambhir, Gund, Kumbh, Hamir.

• (6) Parent Raga: Megh raga

Wives: Sorath, Gaundi-Malari, Asa, Gunguni, Sooho. Sons: Biradhar, Gajdhar, Kedara, Jablidhar, Nut, Jaldhara, Sankar, Syama.

For those interested in learning about the Ragamala paintings in detail, kindly go here.

I guess that’s it for this post. Hope it wasn’t too much to take in. Do voice in with your comments. And, not to forget, suggestions! I leave you with a birthday tribute to T N Seshagopalan, one of his effortless renditions of Begada Raga.

Ajay Parasuraman

The last post introduced you to the quite fascinating Katapayadi Sankhya of classification of Carnatic Melakartha Raagas. I had mentioned that in Hindustani, the equivalent of Melakarthas are Thaats.

One of the most influential musicologists in the Hindustani field of music was a person called Vishnu Bhatkhande. According to him, each one of the numerous traditional raagas in Hindustani are based on or are variants of ten ‘basic’ thaats. That is, if any raaga is chosen at random, it is surely based on one of these ten thaats. The ten thaats are Bilawal, Kalyan, Khamaj, Bhairav, Poorvi, Marwa, Kafi, Asavari, Bhairavi and Todi. However, Bhatkhande’s classification isn’t an error-free, infallible method of classification. It, although, helps in understanding a huge reservoir of raagas better. Please note that the ten thaats are also raagas.

There are certain rules for these Thaats.

1. A Thaat must have seven notes out of the twelve notes [Seven Shuddha, Four komal (Re, Ga, Dha , Ni), one teevra (Ma) ], placed in an ascending order. Both the forms of the notes can be used.
2. Thaat has only an Aarohan.
3. Thaats are not sung but the raags produced from the Thaats are sung.
4. Thaats are named after the popular raag of that Thaat.

The 10 basic thaats acording to the Bhatkhande System are as follows:

1. Bilawal :Bilawal is the most basic of all the ten thaats. All the swars in the thaat are shuddha or all swars in the natural scale. Bilawal as a raag is not rendered these days however a small variation of the raag called Alahaiya Bilawal is very common. This is a morning raag and its pictorial descriptions create a rich, sensuous ambience in consonance with its performance.

Raags in Bilawal Thaat : Deskar, Haunsdhwani etc.

2. Khamaj : The next thaat is Khamaj which can be obtained by replacing the Shuddha Nishad of Bilawal by Komal Nishad. The raags of this thaat are full of Shringar Ras (romantic) hence this raag is mostly rendered in the form of light classical thumris, tappas, horis, kajris etc. Its pictorial descriptions in the existing texts are sensuous and even today, the raag Khamaj is considered to be a ‘flirtatious’ raag. There is another theory which assumes that in the past, Khamaj scale found its way into Ch’in music of the late medieval China.

Raags in Khamaj Thaat : Rageshree, Jhinjhoti, Des, Tilak Kamod, Jaijaiwanti, Khambavati etc

3. Kaafi : Kafi thaat makes use of the Komal Gandhar and Komal Nishad. So basically it adds Komal Gandhar to the Khamaj Thaat. raag Kafi is one of the oldest raags and its intervals are described as basic scale of the Natyashastra. Thus in ancient and medieval times, Kafi was considered as natural scale. Kafi is a late evening raag and said to convey the mood of spring time.

Raags in Kafi Thaat : Dhanashree, Dhani, Bhimpalasi, Pilu, Megh Malhar, Bageshree etc.

4. Asavari : Add Komal Dhaivat to Kafi thaat and you get Asavari Thaat. Raag Asaveri is full of tyag, the mood of renunciation and sacrifice as well as pathos. It is best suited for late morning. However important evening/night raags like Darbari and Adana also use notes of asavari thaat with different styles, stress points and ornamentations.

Raags in Asavari Thaat : Asavari, Desi, Darbari, Adana, Jaunpuri etc.

5. Bharavi : Bhairavi makes use of all the komal swars, Rishabh, Gandhar, Dhaivat, Nishad. When singing compositions in Bhairavi raag, the singers however take liberty to use all the 12 swars. Bhairavi raag is names after the shakti or feminine aspect of the cosmic life force, which is personified as a consort to Lord Shiva. Bhairavi is a powerful raag filled with devotion and compassion. Bhairavi is actually performed early in the morning in a peaceful, serious and ocassionally sad mood. Traditionally it is rendered as the last item of a program, for its unique fullness of sentiments as well as its wide scope of the tonal combinations. Pictorially, Bhairavi is represented in female form, as the wife of Bhairav.

Raags in Bhairavi Thaat : Malkauns, Bilaskhani Todi, Bhupali Todi, Kaunsi Kanada etc.

6. Bhairav : Bhairav thaat raags make use of Komal Rishabh and Komal Dhaivat. Bhairav is one of the names of Lord Shiva especially in his powerful form as a naked ascetic with matted locks and body smeared with ashes. The raag too has some of these masculine and scetic attributes in its form and compositions. The raag itself is extremely vast and allows a huge number of note combinations and a great range of emotional qualities from valor to peace. You can see a lot of variations on raag Bhairav including (but not restricted to) Ahir Bhairav, Alam Bhairav, Anand Bhairav, Bairagi Bhairav, Beehad Bhairav, Bhavmat Bhairav, Devata Bhairav, Gauri Bhairav, Nat Bhairav, Shivmat Bhairav. This raag is usually performed in a devotional mood in the early morning hours. The vibrations of the notes in Bhairav is said to clear one’s whole mind. The pictorial depictions of raag Bhairav in the ancient texts are austere as well as awe-inspiring.

Raags in Bhairav Thaat : Ramkali, Gunkari, Meghranjani, Jogiya, Bhairav and its variations, etc.

7. Kalyan : Kalyan thaat consists of a important group of evening raags. Characterized by the teevra Madhyam, this thaat literally means good luck. It is considered to be a blessing-seeking and soothing raag. As a result, it is performed in the evening at the beginning of a concert. This raag creates a feeling of the unfolding of an evening. This thaat is huge and consists of many variations on the basic kalyan thaat including raags (but not restricted to) like Shuddha Kalyan, Shyam Kalyan, Yaman Kalyan, Anandi Kalyan, Khem Kalyan (Haunsdhwani + Yaman), Savani Kalyan etc.

Raags in Kalyan Thaat : Yaman, Bhupali, Hindol, Kedar, Kamod etc.

8.  Marwa : Marwa thaat is obtained by adding a komal Rishabh to Kalyan thaat. The mood of the Marwa family raags is strongly and easily recognizable. The Shadja remains in the form of a shadow till the very end, where it almost comes as a surprise. komal Rishabh and shuddha Dhaivat are ver important. The overall mood of this raag is of sunset where the night approaches much faster than in northern latitudes. The onrushing darkness awakens in many observers, a feeling of anxiety and solemn expectation.

Raags in Marwa Thaat : Marwa, Puriya, Bhatiyaar, Bibhas, Sohoni etc.

9. Poorvi : Poorvi thaat adds a komal Dhaivat to Marwa thaat. These thaat raags usually feature komal Rishabh, shuddha Gandhar and Shuddha Nishad along with teevra Madhyam, the note which distinguishes evening from the morning raags (dawn and sunset). The thaat raag Poorvi is deeply serious quite and mysterious in character and is performed at the time of sunset. Pictorial depictions in early texts, often mention the poise, grace and charm of Poorvi.

Raags in Poorvi Thaat : Puriya Dhanashree, Gauri, Shree, Paraj, Basant etc.

10. Todi : Todi is the king of all thaats. Todi pictures nearly always show a petite, beautiful woman, holding veena, with a deer around her, standing in a lovely, lush green forest. Todi represents the mood of delighted adoration with a gentle, loving sentiment and its traditionally performed in the late morning.

Raags in Todi Thaat : Miyan Ki Todi, Gujari Todi, Madhuvanti, Multani

A thaat is a musical scale with the seven notes presented in their order of ascent (arohan). For instance, Asaveri is presented, and notated, as Sa Re Ga (flat or komal) Ma Pa Dha (flat) Ni (flat) in ascent, or arohan. This is, however, only the skeletal musical structure of the raga Asaveri ; the raga Asaveri, in reality, and in exposition, is a very different thing. It goes straight from Re to Ma, and comes down to touch Ga, as it ascends; having touched Ni later, it returns to Pa, and, touching the upper Sa, returns to Dha and Pa again and again. Arohan and avarohan are, thus, inextricably and inseparably intermingled in the structure of this raga. The raga, then, is not a musical scale in the Western sense; it is a characteristic arrangement or progression of notes whose full potential and complexity can  be realized only in exposition, and not upon the printed page. A condensed version of this characteristic arrangement of notes, peculiar to each raga, may be called the pakad, by which a listener hears the phrase Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Ga, none of these notes being flat or sharp.  Repeated in a recital, they will know that they are listening to the raga Gaud Sarang. Two ragas may have identical notes and yet be very different ragas; for example, two ragas mentioned earlier, Shree and Puriya Dhanashri, have exactly the same notes, but are unmistakably different in structure and temperament. The first can be identified by its continual exploration of the relationship of the note Re to the note Paa; while the repetition of the phrase Ma Re Ga Re Ma Ga, a phrase that would be inadmissible in the first raga, is an enduring feature of the latter. Certain arrangements of notes, then, are opposite to particular ragas and taboo to all others. A simple and abstract knowledge, thus of the notes of a raga or the thaat on which it is based, is hardly enough to ensure a true familiarity or engagement with the raga, although it may serve as a convenient starting point. Thaat familiarity can only come from a constant exposure to, and critical engagement, with raga’s exposition.

I haven’t, as of yet, decided on the topic for next post. So, suggestions are welcome! But, I assure you, it won’t bore you!