Equivalent (and Near-Equivalent) Ragas in Hindustani and Carnatic Music

The hindustaani equivalent of a mELaa is called a thaaT. All hindustaani ragas are classified under 10 thaaTs. Names in brackets are mELaa names. The thaaTs are as follows: 1. kalyaaN (mEcakalyaaNi) 2. bilaaval (dheera shankaraabharaNam) 3. khamaaj (harikaambhOji) 4. bhairav (maayamaaLava gowLa) 5. bhairavi (tODi) 6. asaavEri (naTabhairavi) 7. tODi (shubhapantuvaraaLi) 8. poorvi (pantuvaraaLi) 9. maarvaa (gamanaashrama) 10. kaafi (kharaharapriyaa) What follows is a table of raagaas, which are the scales in Indian music, or the set of notes used in any given piece. First is the hindustani (north Indian) raagaa, followed by its equivalent/near equivalent raagaa in carnaaTic music. For each raga, the thaaT and the mELakartaa or mELaa scales, notations of the main or raga from which the derivative or janya raagaa is formed, are also given. Where carnaaTic raagaas are separated by a slash , the first raga is aarOha (ascending scale) and the second raga is the avarOha (descending scale).

That 10 1 2 9 1 6 2 10 10 10 4 4 4 2 4

Hindustani Raga abhOgi kAnadA adbhut kalyAN alahiya bilAval ambikA Anandi, AnandkalyAN, nand asAvri auDhava bilAval bAgEshrI bAgEshrIkAnaDA bahAr bairAgibhairav bangalAbhairav basantmukhAri behAg bhairav

Mela 22 29 29 59 65 20 29 22 22 22 2 15 14 29 15

Carnatic Raga aabhOgi nirOSTa bilahari dharmavati Anandi, AnandkalyANi, nand naTabhairavi LalitA bAgEshrI kAnaDA kAnaDA rEvati kannaDabangALA vasantamukhAri behAg mAyAmAlavagauLa

5 2 2 1 1 4 2 10 3 1,3 10 1 8 3 3 3 2 4 10 5 6 2 3 4 4 10 10 1 2 1

bhairavi bhaTiyAri bhImpalAsi bhUpali, bhUp bhUpkalyAN bibhAs bilAval brndAvanisArang campak campAkali candrakauns chAyA dIpak dEs dEsgauD dEshAkSi dEshkAr dEvaranji dhanAshri (bhImpalAs anga) dhanAshri (tODi anga) darbArikAnaDA durgA gArA gauri girijA gOpikAmbhOdi gauNDgiri hamIrkalyAN hamsadhvani hamskalyAN

8 28 20 28 65 15 29 22 28 64 21 29,65 51 28 28 28 28 15 22 8 22 29 22 15 17 20 22 65 29 29/65

sindhubhairavi cHAyAtarangiNi, sAmA bhImpalAs, karnATakadEvagAndhAri mOhana mOhanakalyANi bibhAsu, bauLi dhIrashankarAbharaNa, shankarAbharaNam puSpalatikA balahamsa kEtakapriyA kadaram bEgaDa/sAranga dIpaka dEs dEsyagauLa bilahari mOhana dEvaranji karnaTakadEvagAndhAri dhanyAsi darbArikAnaDA shuddhasAvEri, madhuradhvani dhanakApi gauri vasantA gOpikAvasanta puSpalatikA, suddhadhanyAsi hamIrkalyANi hamsadhvani hamsadhvani/kalyANi

2 2 1 8 9 1 10 10 6 10 4 3 1 3 4 10 6 2 3 3 8 2 9 4 10 10 9 5 1 6

hEmkalyAN hEmant hindOl sAnjh indumati jait (type 4) jaitkalyAN jaijaivanti jayant jIvanpuri, jOnpuri jhinjOTi jOgiyA, guNakrI kalAvati kalyAN, yaman khamAj kamalamanOhari kAfi kOkilapancham kEdAra khamAjI khambAvati kusumaranjani lAjvanti lalit lalitpancam madhmadsArang, madhyamadisArang madhuranjani madhuvanti mAlkauns malarANi mAlkali

29 29 65 51 53 28 22 22 20 28 15 16 65 28 27 22 8 29 28 28 15 29 17/53 15 22 36 22 59 20 60 20

bEgaDA hEmant sunAdavinOdini indumati gamanAshrama mOhana dvIjavanti, jIjavanti jayantasEnA jOnpuri, shuddhadEsi jinjUTi sAvEri valaji mEcakalyANi, kalyANi harikAmbhOji kamalamanOhari kharaharapriyA prabhupriyA nIlAmbari khamAjI balahamsa gauLipantu shuddhasAvEri sUryalalit lalitapancama madhyamAvati gambhIranATa shuddhadhanyAsi dharmavati hindOLa hamsanAda jayantashrI

2 2 1 9 4 7 3 3 4 3 10 5 9 10 10 10 9 9 8 9 3 3 3 2 1 4 10 2 10 6 1 2 1

mAND manOhari mArgabehAg mArva mEgharanji multAni nAgasvari nArAyaNi naTbhairav nATakuranji palAsi pancam mAlkauns paraj paTadIp paTamanjari pIlU pUria pUriAdhanshrI pUrvi pUrvakalyAN pratApavarALi puNDalIka rAgEshrI salang sarasvati saurASTrabhairav shahAnA shankara sindhUrA shObhAvari shrIkalyAn shuddha bilAval shuddha kalyAN

29 22 65 53 15 45 28 28 27 28 22 20 15 22 22 22 53 51 51 53 28 28 28 29 64 17 22 29 22 20 64 29 65

mAND manOhari shuddhakOshala gamanAshramA mEgharanjani gamakasAmantam nAgasvarALi nArAyaNi sarasAngi nATakuranji puSpalatikA rudrapriya jayantashrI paraju, paras paTadIp phalamanjari pIlU hamsAnandi kAmavardhini kAmavardhini pUrvikalyANi pratApavarALi nAgavalli ravicandrikA skandamanOramA sarasvati saurAStra ShahAnA shankara saLagabhairavi sutAdri sarasvati shankarAbharaNa mOhanakalyANi

6 9 3 3 3 4 3 3 7 9 9 1

sindhubhairavi sOhini sOraT suhAkAnaDA sUryakauns takkA tilak kAmOd tilang tODi varaTi vibhAvari yamankalyAN

10 53 28 28 23 15 27 30 45 52 14 65

sindhubhairavi hamsAnandi suraTi puSpalatikA kamalA takkA nalinakAnti tilang shubhapantuvarALi paTalAmbari lasaki yamunAkalyANi

Next: Close raagas

Darbaar or Naayaki? Previous: Equivalent Raagas in Hindustani Next: Raga and Rasa darbaar and naayaki are two of the many close raagas which have the same swarastaanas (notes) but which differ subtly from one another. Citraveena Ravikiran tells the story of a musician who was singing darbaar, but with many traces of naayaki in it. When another prominent musician complained, he quipped, "What kind of darbaar (court) would it be without naayaki (a heroine)!" So keeping such raagas straight is not an easy task even for seasoned musicians. There are many such raagas, with the same notes but which differ slightly. Other raagas have very different swaras but strongly have the chaaya (see glossary, C) of another raaga. These can be hard to separate whether you are performing or just listening to music. We will attempt to separate a few commonly confused raagas here. Some often confused raagas: darbaar and naayaki bhairavi and maanji aarabi and shyaamaa sudda dhanyaasi and udhaya ravi candrikaa shree and madyamaavati valaci and malayamaarutam

Soon, we will discuss these raagas in more detail. You will notice that some of the pairs noted above have the same swarastaanas, and others even have the same aarOhana and avarOhana. Subtleties of gamaka and stress separate these raagas. Darbaar is separated from naayaki by the phrase g, g, r s with emphasis on the two ga's. In naayaki, one should have only m g r s or g r s. This makes a very subtle but important distinction that separates the two raagas. Bhairavi and maanji are different subtly as well, both having the same swaras. You will find, however, that only maanji contains P M P M P, or P G R S. These can be difficult to separate but these subtle sancaarams will make the difference. Similarly, in husEni, the phrase P N2 D2 N2 is characteristic. Aarabi and shyaamaa are also very close raagas. Aarabi often uses a nishaadam (N3) in avarOhana phrases such as S N D P, which is never used in shyaamaa. But some compositions in aarabi are nishaadam varja (no ni is performed), and in these, subtle phrases like S R G S will tell you it's shyaamaa, because aarabi does not have G in the aarOhanam. Other phrases like M D D S and D P D S are also usually restricted to shyaamaa. Udhaya ravi candrikaa and sudda dhanyaasi are not always distinguished as raagas, and indeed are considered by some to be the same raaga. However, strictly speaking, sudda dhanyaasi's aarOhana uses S G M P N P S while the other uses S G M P N S. Shree and madyamaavati often sound very similar. However, shree raga contains a saadhaarana G, which when it appears is distinct. It also contains da in the phrase S N P D N P M. Madyamaavati is simply S R M P N S, S N P M R S. Also, the R oscillates in madyamaavati and is usually stationary in shree. Valaci and malayamaarutam are often confused. They have the same scales, but they are easily distinguished because valaci does not contain ri. Malayamaarutam includes sudda rishabam (R1) in both the aarOhaNam and avarOhanam. These brief notes will help you distinguish some of the easily confused raagas, but the best training, of course, is to just listen to compositions in these raagas so you get a feel for them. It takes time but it's not that hard!

How does a raga make you feel? Previous: Close ragas Next: Time of Day Now you know something about how to identify and distinguish ragas. But there is another, subtle, aspect of ragas: how they evoke emotion. This is called the "rasa" or "rasam" - literally the "essence" of the raga. There are a number of rasas corresponding to various ragas. Below is a table of ragas that are associated with different rasas. Keep in mind that a single raga can evoke diverse feelings.

Rasa adbhuta/arpuda

Meaning wonder, astonishment

Ragas behaag saaranga

bhayanaka bibhatsa hasya

fear disgust joy/laughter

punaaagavaraaLi aThaaNaa hamsadwani kEdaaram mOhanam ghanTa kaanaDaa naadanaamakriyaa sahaanaa varaaLi aThaaNaa aarabi shyaamaa vasantaa asaavEri bhairavi husEni kaanaDaa kalyaaNi kamaas sahaanaa shuruTTi aThaaNaa bilahari bEgaDa dEvagaandhaari hamsadwani

karuNaa

sorrow, anguish

rowdra shaanta

anger calm, peace

shringaara

love

veera

courage

Aside from these rasas, there is "bhakthi rasa," the feeling of devotion. Many ragas invoke this, most notably the ragas used in the Vedas and slokas, like kharaharapriyaa and rEvati. Some types of songs also go with certain ragas. Lullabies typically use ragas like neelaambari or navrOj, among others. Mangalams and finishing songs use madyamaavati. Finally, different composers may use various ragas to evoke emotions other than what is assigned to that raga. So, you may find a laali in madyamaavati, a sad song in hamsadwani. The composers define the music, so the raga itself may be adapted to the feeling that seems to suit the song!

Next: Time of Day

At what time of day should you perform a raga? Previous: Raga Rasas Next: Introduction to Taala After finding out how a raaga can make you feel, you are not ready to perform it yet. Each raaga actually has an appropriate time to be performed! Here is a brief compilation of the times and some raagas corresponding to them. You can find more about each time in the glossary.

Time of day Early Morning

Time before sunrise 4-6am after sunrise 6-9am before noon 9am-noon noon-1pm 1-4pm

Ragas ghanakaala raagas bhoopaaLam bowLi bilahari dhanyaasi kEdaaram asaavEri dEva manOhari saavEri madyamaavati maNirangu shree bEgaDa mukhaari ghanakaala raagas aananda bhairavi naaTTai kurinji poorvi kalyaaNi shanmugapriyaa vasantaa kEdaara gowLa neelaambari bhairavi kaambhOji kalyaaNi shankaraabharaNam

Morning

Forenoon

Midday Afternoon

Evening

end of day 4-7pm

Night

7-10pm

Sarvakaalika

any time of day

The last set, the sarvakaalika raagas, are common raagas and can be performed at any time. You'll find that compositions are also composed - many lullabies are sung at night and are therefore composed in neelaambari. Other songs are morning songs and composed in bhoopaaLam.

Performers always conclude a concert with madyamaavati. Though it is intended to be a midday raaga, it is said to appease the gods and nullify any inconsistencies in singing raagas at the wrong time.

Next: Introduction to Taala

Here is a table of the major taaLas used in Carnatic music. Previous: Introduction to TaaLa Next: Gamakas First we list the 16 angas (sOdashangams) and then follows the table of the 35 taalas. Please see the previous page or the glossary for a description of the terms and system of taalas.

anga name anudrutam drutam druta viramam laghu laghu viramam laghu drutam laghudruta viramam guru guru viramam guru drutam gurudruta viramam plutam pluta viramam pluta drutam pluta druta viramam kaakapaadam

symbol U 0 U 0 |(#) U | 0| U 0| 8 U 8 08 U 08 |8 U |8 0|8 U 0|8 +

aksharakaalas movement 1 beat with palm 2 beat with palm + turn (wave) 3 (1 + 2) 4 (or 3,5,7,9) 5 (1+4) 6 (4+2) 7 (1+2+4) 8 8 (1+8) 10 (8+2) 11 (1+2+8) 12 (8+4) 13 (1+12) 14 (12+2) 15 (1+2+12) 16 anudrutam + drutam beat + finger counts anudrutam + laghu laghu + drutam anudrutam + drutam + laghu wave to left and right or circle with thumb-up anudrutam + guru guru + drutam anudrutam + drutam + guru beat + wave to sides anudrutam + plutam plutam + drutam anudrutam + drutam + plutam beat plus wave up and to sides

The table of the 35 taaLas is listed below. The total numbers in the laghu are given in parenthesis, ex. catushra jaati = |(4). TaaLas are named first by their jaati then by the taaLa type of the 7, as in tishra jaati Eka taaLam.

taala group jaati 1. dhruva 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. matya 7. 8. 9. 10. tisra catushra khaNDa mishra sankeerna tisra catushra khaNDa mishra sankeerna

angas

aksharakaalas

|(3) 0 |(3) |(3) 11 |(4) 0 |(4) |(4) 14 |(5) 0 |(5) |(5) 17 |(7) 0 |(7) |(7) 23 |(9) 0 |(9) |(9) 29 |(3) 0 |(3) |(4) 0 |(4) |(5) 0 |(5) |(7) 0 |(7) |(9) 0 |(9) 0 |(3) 0 |(4) 0 |(5) 0 |(7) 0 |(9) |(3) U 0 |(4) U 0 |(5) U 0 |(7) U 0 |(9) U 0 |(3) 0 0 8 10 12 16 20 5 6 7 9 11 6 7 8 10 12 7 8 9 11 13 10 12

11. roopaka tishra 12. 13. 14. 15. catushra khaNDa mishra sankeerna

16. jhampa tishra 17. 18. 19. 20. catushra khaNDa mishra sankeerna

21. tripuTa tishra 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. aTa 27.

catushra (aadi) |(4) 0 0 khaNDa mishra sankeerna tishra catushra |(5) 0 0 |(7) 0 0 |(9) 0 0 |(3) |(3) 0 0 |(4) |(4) 0 0

28. 29. 30. 31. Eka 32. 33. 34. 35.

khaNDa mishra sankeerna tishra catushra khaNDa mishra sankeerna

|(5) |(5) 0 0 |(7) |(7) 0 0 |(9) |(9) 0 0 |(3) |(4) |(5) |(7) |(9)

14 18 22 3 4 5 7 9

These are the major taaLas (suladisapta taaLas). Incorporating the other angas (guru, plutam, kaakapaadam) brings us up to 108 taaLas, and even more if one includes the caapu taaLas and other variations.

Next: Gamakas

Gamakas are subtle (and not-so-subtle) decorations of notes, usually referred to as "shaking the note." They come in various forms and are incorporated into ragas, giving each note a unique characteristic and a delicate beauty when performed. Previous: TaaLa table Next: Singing Practice The types of gamakas are below: aarOha - this is the ascending scale. Moving from one note ascending to the next is a gamaka. These can also be done rapidly and in succession, giving long runs of great beauty when executed with skill. ex: srgmpdnSRGM avarOha - similarly, moving down from a higher note to the next lower note is also a gamaka. ex: M G R Sndpmgrs daatu - using one note as a base and jumping to others in succession. This is great for emphasizing one note and also giving almost a rhythmic tone to the singing. ex: sr sg sm sp sd sn sS spuritam - these are repeated notes, in twos. In such cases, the second note is usually stressed. ex: ss rr gg mm pp dd nn SS kampitam - this means singing a note between two notes. For example, ma can be sung instead as gpgpgp... giving a shake to the note aahatam - using notes in succession (ascending) but paired with the next note. ex: sr rg gm mp pd dn ns

It can also be used as gmg rgr srs pratyaavatam - the same as aahatam but in the descending scale. ex: Sn nd dp pm mg gr rs It can also be used as sns ndn dpd ... tripuccam - repeated notes in threes. ex: sss rrr ggg mmm ppp ddd nnn sss aandOLam - also called dOlakam, this is, for example, srsg srsm srsp srsd srsn srsS moorcanai - this is using the proper gamakam of the raaga. If a raga requires the use of a particular gamaka for a certain note, this must be performed when singing the scale or whenever the note is sung or performed daaTu - this is jumping of notes within a scale, skipping notes. ex: sg rm gp md pn dS jaaru - a glide or slide from one note to another (whether successive or from a distant note) ex: s .... S hampitam - a rarely used gamaka in recent years, this is the use of the syllable "hoom" (like boom) naabhitam - swelling a note in volume (like a crescendo) mudritam - humming, singing with the mouth closed ex: mmmmm... tribhinnam - performing multiple (usually 3) notes at once, as in a chord. This is for instrumental performers only mishritam - using a mixture of any gamakas listed above

Next: How to Practice Singing

Carnatic music practice - if you are a singer of Carnatic music, here are some useful basics of music practice. Previous: Types of Gamakas Next: Notation and Symbols Practice early in the morning. This is useful because you're on an empty stomach and not sleepy. It's also a time when it's quiet and you won't be distracted by duties and random sounds all over the place. You will first want to turn on a tambura or sruti box. Your teacher can teach you how to tune it - make sure you learn properly, and learn what pitch you usually sing to. If you don't have either of these, record the tambura sound or sruti box on a tape and play it while you sing, on both sides (so you can just play the other side of the tape when one side is done). Listen to the tambura, sruti box, or a tape of the tambura or shruti box for three to five minutes. This will help get you in the music mood and will help calm you, too. Just sit and listen and breathe with the notes. Watch your posture. You should be sitting with legs crossed and arms at your thighs, preferably. Sit up no slumping or slouching, keep your chin up (but don't look up), and look straight ahead. Don't hold your breath but take deep breaths, pushing your diaphragm (and stomach) OUTWARD when you breathe in and letting it sink back when you exhale thoroughly.

Your singing can begin with Sa. It's useful to begin singing in a raaga like maayamaaLava gowLa or shankaraabharaNam. Hold the sa for as long as you can. If you run out of breath, try again. With practice you'll be able to hold your breath longer. It helps to push your stomach outward when you are trying to hold the sa to push more air out of your lungs. Use your breath sparingly, and don't exhale all the air at once, but DO sing loudly and freely. As teachers say, you must really "sing from your stomach," which lets the vibrations come from your stomach to your chest, then your throat and finally your mouth, giving a rounded, rich tone to your voice. Your mouth and neck should also be straight. When you sing, avoid shaking your head too much. When you sing gamakas, they should not REQUIRE shaking of your head, so hold your head upright. Keep your chin back towards your neck and not sticking out (like a duck), with your shoulders back. Imagine the sound coming from the back of your throat, not the front of your mouth. Sing in front of a mirror or get someone to watch you and point out what you're doing wrong occasionally. After you sing sa, you can vary around the sa, as in sn.srssn.n.p.n.n.srrsnrs This practice of varying around a note will allow you to extend your range lower. After varying around sa, you can vary around low ni, etc. Slowly sing sa, and work your way up to singing ri next. From there go to ga, ma, pa, da, and ni, and finally high sa, holding each note as long as possible. At first you may only be able to hold the notes for 10 seconds, but eventually you should be able to hold notes for an entire minute, clearly and strongly without gasping for breath. From here you can sing the sarali varisais, janta varisais, daaTu varisais and the other beginners' lessons, found here. Sing the lessons at different speeds: one note per beat, then two, then four, then finally (when you can) eight notes per beat. These exercises will improve your ability to say the swaras, improve your breath, extend your range, and most importantly, understand the swarastaanas - that is, sing the proper, steady pitch for each note at whatever speed. You should also split the swaras properly. Thus srgsrgsr should not be sung as just a string of swaras. It is made of small phrases: srg - srg - sr. Pay attention to these, because they make the difference between just singing what is written and bringing out the composer's (or singer's) knowledge of music. These exercises include various forms of gamakas, and you can see them in the swaras you sing. To improve your gamaka, you can also sing the phrases next with the sound aaa... instead of the swaras. Then try other syllables, like eee..., ooo..., ayyyyy...., aii...., mmm...., ohhhh.... etc. Add the taaLam when you are proficient at the early lessons. This will be useful especially when singing in the four speeds. Concentrate on keeping the taaLam on your lap, not beating too hard but lightly and lifting the palm at each beat, even on the laghu. Do not get lazy with you taaLam! When you have a particular song you are going to practice, it's useful to do this practice of the early phrases in the raaga. If it is not a sampoorna raaga (with some swaras missing), you can adjust the phrases accordingly. For example, with a raagam like mOhanam you can sing: srsrsrgp | srgpddS, || SdSdSdpg | Sdpgrrs, || ssrrgsrg | ssrrggpp || rrggprgp | rrggppdd ||... srgpdSS, | S,,,S,,, || pdSRSdpg | Sdpgrss, ||... When you have a raaga now firmly based in your head, you can go on to sing songs. Keep in mind that the splitting of phrases you do with the swaras of a song may be very different from those of the words. Learn the meaning, composer, and raaga of every song you learn in addition to just the words. Know the proper splitting of words, so you won't accidentally take a breath in the middle of a word and maybe even offend some people! If you are singing a song, pay special attention to the words or lyrics of the song. You should pronounce them properly and clearly, without splitting words in half. Find out from your teacher, a friend, or on this

site the complete lyrics and full meaning of the song so that you understand each word as well as the complete meaning of the song. Try to keep the meaning of the song in mind - the composer has created it with such feeling, and you must convey that to your audience to make the music melodious and true to its creator. Proper practice is vital to good voice cultivation and knowledgeable and beautiful singing. Don't get disheartened - small amounts of daily practice whenever you can add up, and you will improve every day!