Same notes, Different Ragas

Amir Khusrau (Illustration)

One of the glories of Hindustani Music, is that from the same "Thaat" having seven particular notes, innumerable ragas can be derived by using different "Vadi" (most important note), different "Samvadi"(second most important note), & different "Pakad" (typical cluster of notes.)

Here it is proposed to name a few such  relatively uncommon Ragas from the "Marwa" That. 

The first is "Saazgiri", attributed to Amir Khusrau & played & recorded by Ustad Vilayat Khan on the seventh centenary of Amir Khusrau. This raga can be considered as a fusion of Puriya & Poorvi, with the occasional use of Shuddha Madhyam. It can be performed between 5.30 to 7:00 P.M.

Pandit Ravi Shankar

The second is "Bhankar", one of the rarest of Hindustani Ragas. This also uses the notes of the Marwa Thaat, with the addition of Shuddha Madhyam, but in a completely different way. This also has been recorded by Vilayat Khan, who has brought out the traces of other ragas hidden in it like, Puriya, Puriya Kalyan, Lalit, Nand, Hamir, Gauri (Bhairav), Purvi, Kedar, Hindol & Bhatiyar without making it sound like a Ragamala, but an unified Raga with many facets. (Courtesy: Mohan Nadkarni for the list of Ragas.) This is however, a morning raga for 4:00 A.M. to 5.30 A.M.

Not content with this, Vilayat Khan has recorded a further variant called "Kedar Bhankar", which reinforces the Kedar element already present in Bhankar still further. So the Shuddha Madhyam, when struck for the first time during the Alaap in the lower octave, it comes as a sudden manifestation, creating awe. It is the Shuddha Madhyam of Kedar, & immediately turns Bhankar into a new raga, Kedar Bhankar.

A very similar, but more popular raga than Bhankar is Bhatiyar, the morning raga for 4:00 A. M. to 5.30 A.M. This is known for its "Vakra Sanchara" (zig-zag progression) & favoured by the Maihar Gharana, being recorded by both Pandit Ravi Shankar & Pandit Nikhil Banerjee.

An evening Raga, which has come into prominence is Purvi Kalyan, which is Puriya Kalyan, with the occasional typical use of Shuddha Madhyam as a grace note. This also has been recorded by the Maestros of Maihar noted above.

All the above five ragas use the same notes of the Marwa Thaat with the addition of Shuddha Madhyam.