Accordingly if we know the Vadi Swar of a Raga. We can determine its time of singing.
Eg: In Ashawari, Dha is tha Swar and according to the above rule, it should be sung in the morning.
But there are some exceptions to the rule.
Eg: Bhairavi, In Raga Bhairavi Vadi Swar is Ma. But it is sung in the morning. But according to the above rule, it should be sung between 12 Noon and Midnight.
To slove this problem we should extend the Poorvanga as S R G M P. Now Bhairavi becomes an Uttaranga Vadi Raga. This Gana Samaya theory is an ancient theory. According to this theory all Ragas are divided in to 3 types.
1 . Ri Dha Komal Ragas
2 . Ri Dha Shuddha Ragas
3 . Ga Ni Komal Ragas
Komal Ri Dha Ragas are Sandhi Prakashak Ragas. Their Gandhar is Teevra. These Ragas are sung a little time before sunset or sunrise. Examples are Bhairav, Kalingada, bhairavi, Poorvi, Marva etc.There are two tyoes of Sandhi Prakash Ragas.
In Sandhiprakash Ragas even if Dha is komal or teevra. Often its Ri is komal and Ga and Ni are Teevra. But there are exceptions to the rule. Like Bhairavi Raga with Shuddha Ri, Dha are sung after Sandhiprakash Ragas. There ragas are sung twice a day from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. In these ragas Ma is Shuddha.
In Ragas withKomal Ga, Ni, Ri and Dha might be komal or Shuddha. These Ragas as sung after Ri Dha Shuddha ragas. That is from 10 a.m. to 4 a.m. are from 10 p.m. to 4 p.m. Examples of these are Ahawari ; Morning and Jayjayvanti; Night Ragas.
Time Theory is found only in Indian Music. It specyfies the time of singing a particular Ragas. According to this theory, the time table of Raga Gayan is divided in to two categories. The 24 hours of the day, is desected into two. The first part is counted from 12 noon to midnight and the second part is counted from midnight to 12 noon. The first part is called the Poorva Bhaag and the second part is termed the Uttar Bhaag. Illustrativrly we can depict it as follows;
24 Hours of the day
12 Noon to Midnight Midnight to 12 Noon
Poorva Bhaag UttarBhaag
Pandith Bhatkhandeji, categorises all Ragas in to 2 types. According to the above time theory. There are;
1 . Poorvanga Vadi Ragas:-
Ragas having the vadi Swar among the first 4 Swaras of the lower
Tetrachord. Eg: S R G M
2 . Uttaranga Vadi Ragas:- Ragas having the vadi Swar among the 4 Swarar of the upper tetrachord.
Pandith Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande was born in 1860. He is called the Father of Modern Hindustani Classical Music. He took 10 Thatas from Pandith Vyankatamukhi’s 72 Melas and grouped all Ragas under 12 Thatas. A notation system was invented by him and he also started the Marries College of Music which later became the Bhatkhande Sangeeth Vidyapith. He also wrote many books in Music and many Dhrupads, Khyals, Taranas ect; in 6 Kramik Pustaks and published them. He also arranged Musical conferences. He also declared that the Bilawal That was the Shuddha That.
Pandith Vishnu Digambar Palushkar (1872 – 1931 A. D.) also started the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya in 1901 to popularize Music and made many distinguished pupils like Pandith Omkarnath Thakur, Vinayakrav Patavardhan, Narayan Rav Vyas. He also wrote many books on Music and invented a notation system.
With the invasion of the British North Indian Music started going down. The Vocal and Instrumental Gharanas dispersed with the coming of the Radio, Televisions and the Tape recorder. Guru Shishya Parampara came to an end. University – School Musical education became popular. In Calcutta Gurudeva Rabindranath thakur established the Vishva Bharati Sangeeth Vishwavidyalaya in Shantiniketan and with the Institution of the Bhatkhande sangeeth Vidyapith of Lucknow. North Indian Music spreaded all over the world with great ambassadors of North Indian Music, like Pandith RaviShankar, Ustad Alaudin Khan, Ustad Sakir Hussain, Ustad Alla Rakha Khan and Pandith HariprasadChourasia ect; who performed all over the world. The Indian Music spreaded to the four corners of the world.As the film Music developed with great Music directors like Ustad Naushd , Anil Biswas, Shankarand Jaikishan ect; and with the singing of Latha Mangeshkar, Mohammed Rafi, Mukesh, Mannadey ect. Film Music too became more popular. With the advent of Doordharshan and radio stations. North Indian Classical Music reached the homes of the common man.
THE CONCEPT OF THATA RAGA SYSTEM OF PANDITH VYANKATAMUKHI AND THE MODERN THEORY OF THATA RAGA PADDHATHI OF PANDITH BHATKHANDE
Pandith Vyankatamukhi was a South Indian who lived in the 16th Century. He invented the revolutionary Melakarta system with the help of mathematics. To form these 72 Melakarta system with the help of mathematics. To form these 72 Melakartas or Melas, he first took all the 12 swaras and added Thar Shadja to them. From that he omitted the Theevra madham and grouped the swaras as follows.
S R R G G M / P D D N N S
Now each part contained 6 Swaras and he called the first part Poorvardha and the later part Uttarardha. By combining the different Prakaras formulated, he obtained combinations which are as follows.
Poorvardha Uttardha
1. S R R M 7. P D D S
2. S R G M 8. P D N S
3. S R G M 9. P D N S
4. S R G M 10. P D N S
5. S R G M 11. P D N S
6. S G G M 12. P N N S
From these 12 combinations he obtained further 36 combinations = (6 * 6) = 36 These 36 combinations contained only Shuddha Madhyam. Therefore, he constructed another 36 combinations with Pratimadhyamam or the construction of 72 Meles (36 * 2 = 72 ) Under these, he grouped all Janya Ragas of the Carnatic system. This system is called the Janaka Janya Raga system. A Janya Raga is said to be born in a Melakarta. It takes the same swaras of the parental Melakarta.
In the 20thCentury Pandith Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande laid the foundation to the Hindustani Classical Music system. He declared the Bilawal. That as the natural or Shuddha Scale and borrowed another 10 Thatas from Vyankatamukhi’s 72 Melas. His 10 Thatas are as follows,
1. Kalyan Thaat S R G M P D N
2. Bilawal Thaat S R G M P D N
3. Khamaj Thaat S R G M P D N
4. Kafi Thaat S R G M P D N
5. Bhairav Thaat S R G M P D N
6. Bhairavi Thaat S R G M P D N
7. Asawari Thaat S R G M P D N
8. Purvi Thaat S R G M P D N
9. Marva Thaat S R G M P D N
10. Thodi Thaat S R G M P D N
Pandith Bhatkhade costructed these 10 Thaats and grouped all existing Ragas under the 10 Thaats. This system was called the "Dasa Thaat Raga Paddhathi." He did this in order to make the Classification of Ragas uniform earlier there ware doubts about that Janaka Thaat of a Raag. Pandithji's system solved the problem.
Bhatkhandeji, laid down specific rules for Thaat formation as follows;
1. A Thaat must have 7 notes.
2. The ascension of Thaat should be in an ascending order.
3. A Thaat needs no descent or Avaroha.
4. A Thaat need not be sweet as it is not for singing.
5. To recognize the Thaat the chief Thaat Vachak Raga's name is used.
eg: To recognize the Bhairav Thaat the Ashraya Raga of that Thaat, Raag Bhairava
name is used.
6. Two forms of the same swar Should not be used in a Thaat.
eg: Komal Gandhar and Shuddha Gandhar cannot be used in the construction of
Thaats.
Bhatkhandeji classified all Janya Raag as in to 9 types or Jathis. They are as follows;
1. Oudav - Oudav
2. Oudav - Shadav
3. Oudav - Sampoorna
4. Shadav - Oudav
5. Shadav - Shadav
6. Shadav - Sampoorna
7. Sampoorna - oudav
8. Sampoorna - Shadav
9. Sampoorna - Sampoorna
His primary grouping of all Ragas as Oudav ( 5 Notes ) Shadav ( 6 Notes ) and Sampoorna( 7 Notes ) settles the number of Swaras uesd in the above a Jathis. He declared that one could construct 484 Ragas out of one Thaat. Accordingly we can construct 4840 Ragas out of 10 Thaat.
The history of Indian music can be divided in to four periods, namely
• The Vedic or the ancient period.
•The Hindu period.
•The Mohammadian period.
•The Modern period.
We shall examine each period separately,
The Vedic period or the ancient period
The Musical Culture of the Indus valley Civilization of the 3rd and 2nd millennia B.C. speaks of harps, many types of drums. This Civilization died when Aryans came in 2nd B.C. They composed and sung hymns to Gods. Rig Veda, Sama Veda and Yajur Veda, were composed. Sama Veda contains songs sung musically and it gave birth to 7 notes. Slowly Jathi Gayan developed out of Vedic Music. Vedas describe Brahma as the father of Music. Vishnu and Shiva also studied this art and Saraswathi was the Goddess of Music. Narada learned it from Gods and spreaded it among humans. Bharata a sage wrote an important book called Natyashastra on Music and Dance sometime between 200 A. D.
The Hindu period
This period started will be Gupta Kings 380 A. D. A famous poet named Kalidas was employed in the place of Gupta King Vikramadiya. It was the Golden age of Culture arts and learning in India. Kalidas wrote many famous poems like Meghaduta, Raghuramsa, and Sakuntala. His works mentions many types of Veenas like Parivadini, Vipanchi, Pushkar and Drums like Mridanga and Dundubhi, Vamshi or the Flute too has been described. In Ramayana too Musical Instruments like Veena, Mridang, Vamshi are mentioned. In the Puranas like Vishnu and Shiva Puranas Music has been given a special place. They were written in 100 A. D.
The Mohammedian period
In the 9th Century Sufis came to India. They were great lovers of Music. The Flowers of NizamuddinChishti (1324 A. D.) included Basant and Rang celebrations in their religious practices. The Moguls invaded India in the 11th Century. Some Muslim rules like Aurangzeb (1658 – 1707) prohibited Music but rules like Akbar (1556 – 1605) liked Music and made it popular. In the 12th Century a Persian Musician named Ameer Kushroo invented Khyal, Tarana, Gazal, Khawwali, Tabla and the Sitar and also composed many Ragas and Taalas.
During this period (1210 -1247 A. D.) Sarangadeva wrote the important book Sangeeth Rathnakar which gave a lot of details on Shuti, Swar, Saptak, Grama, Moorchana ect. He also gave the technique of playing constructing 14 kinds of Drums. This book was highly accepted by both Hindustani and Karnatic Musicians. In the 14th Century Alaudin Khilji became emperor and it was he who employed Ameer Kushroo as his royal Musician.
In the 15th Century Sultan Hussain Shirki invented Kalvanthan ki Khyal. In the 15th Century Akbar became king. He had a great Musician called Tansen who performed miracles with Music. He produced fire and rain with Music. His teacher was a great Music Yogi called Swami Haridas who was also a great singer. During this period Raja Mansing Tomar of Gwalior invaded the Dhrupad style of singing. In the 16th Century Pandith Vyankatamukhi wrote Chaturdandi Prakashika which described 72 Melakartas. In the 17th Century Mohammed Shah Rangile became king in whose Court were two famous Musician named Adarang and Sadarang. They composed many Kyals and popularized them. In the 19th Century Nawab Wajid Alishah became king of North India and Thumri was invented during this period. He also popularized the Kathak Dance.
