Salient features of ragas

Six prescribed ragas and their Karnatak equivalents

Many Hindustani ragas have Karnatak counterparts that use the same set of notes, though the way of moving through them can differ.

Yaman (Karnatak: Kalyani)

• Thaat: Kalyan. Uses teevra Ma; all other notes shuddha.
• Jaati: sampurna-sampurna. Vadi Ga, samvadi Ni.
• Time: first part of the night. Pakad: Ni Re Ga Re, Pa Re, Ni Re Sa.
• Karnatak Kalyani is the 65th melakarta (Mechakalyani).

Bhairav (Karnatak: Mayamalavagowla)

• Thaat: Bhairav. Komal Re and komal Dha, with andolan on both.
• Jaati: sampurna-sampurna. Vadi Dha, samvadi Re.
• Time: early morning. Mayamalavagowla is the 15th melakarta and the raga of beginners' lessons.

Bilawal (Karnatak: Shankarabharanam)

• Thaat: Bilawal. All notes shuddha.
• Vadi Dha, samvadi Ga. Time: morning.
• Dheerashankarabharanam is the 29th melakarta; its scale matches the Western major scale.

Malkauns (Karnatak: Hindolam)

• Thaat: Bhairavi. Re and Pa omitted; komal Ga, Dha and Ni.
• Jaati: audav-audav. Vadi Ma, samvadi Sa.
• Time: late night. A serious, meditative raga.

Bageshree (Karnatak: Shri Ranjani)

• Thaat: Kafi. Komal Ga and komal Ni.
• Vadi Ma, samvadi Sa. Time: night. A raga of longing (viraha).

Bhupali (Karnatak: Mohanam)

• Thaat: Kalyan. Ma and Ni omitted; all notes shuddha.
• Jaati: audav-audav. Vadi Ga, samvadi Dha.
• Time: first part of the night. Notes: Sa Re Ga Pa Dha (a pentatonic scale).

Key points

• Yaman and Bhupali both come from Kalyan thaat.
• Malkauns and Bhupali are audav-audav ragas.
• Bhairav = komal Re, Dha; morning.
• Bilawal = all shuddha; same scale as Shankarabharanam.

Common mistakes

• Thinking Hindustani Hindol equals Karnatak Hindolam; Hindolam corresponds to Malkauns.
• Forgetting that Bhupali, though in Kalyan thaat, does not use Ma at all.