CLASSIFICATION OF RAGA

CLASSIFICATION OF  RAGA

Until the 13^th century the Grama Moorchana Jathi Paddhathi was in cerculation. After that the Ragas were Classified in Indian Music chiefly as follows;

            1 .  Rag Ragini Classification of Narada in Sangeeth Makaranda.

            2 .  Shuddha, Chayalag and Sankeerna Classification.

            3 .  Jathi or Shadav, Oudav, Sampoorna Classification.

The ancients Classified all Ragas in to Raga, Ragini, Raga Putra and Raga Putravadhu. This Classification is called the Raga Ragini Classification. There are 4 theories about it. According to the 4 theories; They are as follows.

          1 .  Shiva Matha or Gomeshvar Matha.

          2 .  Bharath Matha.

          3 .  Kallinath Matha.

          4 .  Hanumath Matha.

Given below are the grouping of chief Ragas of each Matha.

SHIVA MATHA                                                             1 .  Shree

( 6 Chief Ragas )                                                          2 .  Basant

                                                                                          3 .  Pancham

                                                                                          4 .  Megh

                                                                                          5 .  Bhairav

                                                                                          6 .  Natanarayan

Pandith Damodar describes thi theory in his book named Sangeeth Darpan as,

BHARATH MATHA                                                     1 .  Bhairavi

( 6 Chief Ragas )                                                         2 .  Malkouns

                                                                                      3 .  Hindol

                                                                                      4 .  Deepak

                                                                                      5 .  Shree

                                                                                      6 .  Megh

KALLINATH MATHA                                                  1 .  Shree

( 6 Chief Ragas )                                                         2 .  Pancham

                                                                                      3 .  Bhairavi

                                                                                      4 .  Megh

                                                                                      5 .  Natanarayan

                                                                                      6 .  Vasant

HANUMAT MATHA                                                   1 .  Bhairavi

( 6 Chief Ragas )                                                          2 .  Malkouns

                                                                                       3 .  Hindol

                                                                                       4.  Deepak

                                                                                       5 .  Shree

                                                                                       6 .  Megh

     Shuddha, Chayalag and Sankeerna Ragas Classification was described in Raga Vibhoda written in the 17^th century by Pandith Somanath. According to this Classification Shuddha Raga is rag which doesn't require anyother Raga for it display. Chayalag Raga is a mixture of two Ragas. Sankeerna Ragas are mixture of several Ragas.

     According to the Jathi Classification, ragas were basically divided in to 3 types. As Oudav, Shadav and Sampoorna. These three basic types produced 9 subtypes as follows;

                                1 .  Sampoorna Shadav

                                2 .  Sampoorna Sampoorna

                                3 .  Sampoorna Oudav

                                4 .  Shadav Sampoorna

                                5 .  Shadav Shadav

                                6 .  Shadav Ovdav

                                7 .  Ovdav Sampoorna

                                8 .  Oudav Shadav

                                9 .  Oudav Oudav

     From each that with the of these 9 sub types, 484 Ragas can be made. Therefore with 10 Thatas, 4840 Ragas can be made but as most of them are lacking in sweetness, only about 200 Ragas are in use.

Time theory

                                                 

Poorvanga Vadi Ragas                                                                                 Uttaranga vadi Ragas

Time of singing                                                                                              Time of singing

From 12 Noon to Midnight                                                                         From Midnight to 12 Noon

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.

•        Prathakkaleena (Morning )

•        Sayankaleena (Evening )

               Prathakkaleena Sandhiprakash ragas                     Sayankaleena Sandhiprakash Ragas 

                                 Ma   Shuddha                                                                    Ma   Teevra

                                  Examples                                                                             Examples

                            1 .  Bhairavi                                                                           1 .  Poorvi

                            2 .  Kalingada                                                                        2 .  Marva

        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 with Komal  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.

THE TIME THEORY OF RAGAS IN INDIAN MUSIC

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.

Eg: P D N S

In fixing the time of singing Ragas follows;

The Modern Period

The Modern period

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 Ravi Shankar, Ustad Alaudin Khan, Ustad Sakir Hussain, Ustad Alla Rakha Khan and Pandith Hariprasad Chourasia 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, Shankar and 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 16^th 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 20^th Century 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.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF INDIAN MUSIC

                                A BRIEF HISTORY OF INDIAN MUSIC

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 3^rd and 2^nd millennia B.C. speaks of harps, many types of drums. This Civilization died when Aryans came in 2^nd 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 9^th Century Sufis came to India. They were great lovers of Music. The Flowers of Nizamuddin Chishti (1324 A. D.) included Basant and Rang celebrations in their religious practices. The Moguls invaded India in the 11^th Century. Some Muslim rules like Aurangzeb (1658 – 1707) prohibited Music but rules like Akbar (1556 – 1605) liked Music and made it popular. In the 12^th 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 14^th 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 15^th 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 16^th Century Pandith Vyankatamukhi wrote Chaturdandi Prakashika which described 72 Melakartas. In the 17^th 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 19^th Century Nawab Wajid Alishah became king of North India and Thumri was invented during this period. He also popularized the Kathak Dance.