Comparison of Classification of Hindustani Ragas in the Ragamala Paintings & in the "That" system.

The ragamala paintings are "Miniatures of Musical Inspiration" as elegantly put by Waldschmidt. Their classification is anthropomorphic & polygamous. There are only six Ragas, namely Bhairav, Malkouns, Hindol, Dipak, Megh & Sri. The rest are Raginis attached to any one of the six. There are Ragaputras (& Ragaputris) also. They may be a little over a hundred at the most.

The "That" system is more logical in that the ragas are classified into Ten "Thats" depending on the types of notes used. Because of permutation & combinations & other variables, there may be thousands of different ragas.

Only Bhairav is a Raga in the Ragamala system as well as a "That" in the Raga system.

Malkouns, which is a Raga in the Ragamala system, is only a 'janya' (derivative) raga in the "Bhairavi" That.

Similarly Hindol, which is a raga in the Ragamala system, is only a 'janya' in the " Kalyan" That.

The case of Raga Dipak is a curious one, though it is a Raga in the Ragamala system. There are no less than four versions available in Bilaval, Kalyan, Khamach & Purvi Thats! However it is rarely performed, the most popular version being the composition "Diya Jalao" in the film "Tansen" sung by the immortal K.L.Saigal.

The Raga "Megh" in the Ragamala system is a 'janya' raga in the "Kafi That".

The Raga "Sri" in the Ragamala system is a 'janya' raga in the "Poorvi That".

This concludes a very brief comparison of the ragas in the Ragamala Painting & the "That" system.

References:
1. Daljeet, Dr. "Ragachitra"
2. Ebeling, Klaus "Ragamala Painting"
3. Purandare, Prof.A.M "Raga Darshan"
4. Subba Rao, B. "Raga Nidhi"
5. Waldschmidt, "Miniatures of Musical Inspiration"