Raga is the oldest and most durable of Indian melodic edifices. We hear about it all the time, whenever the conversation turns to the Indian classical music. What does it mean, though? The word raga is derived from the word ranja, which means that which delights or enchants the mind. It also means a spectrum of colours, a sun-burst of emotions and passions implying thereby the emotional effect created by characteristic melodic movements. For now, let’s focus on understanding raga in the more contemporary sense.
Raga, as understood today, is a melodic notion or idea using five notes of the octave in a certain order. The combination of notes form a scale conforming to precise rules of ascent (aroha) and descent (avaroha), with determined resting places, distinct phrasal movements all of which go to evoke raga’s emotive content. Each raga obtains its characteristic mood through the skillful use of certain principal notes. Each raga also has a vadi or a melodic nucleus towards which all melodic movements gravitate. It is the note towards which the performer returns repeatedly and makes it as attractive as possible. The samvadi or the consonant is secondary to the vadi, serving to intensify its effect by complementing it.
It must be noted that a performer treats a raga as a tonal complex rather than as a grammatical structure guided by mechanical rules of practice. Therefore, the emphasis is not so much on understanding raga, but feeling it.
Ragas: the collective heritage of India
A number of ragas are not so much ‘created’ as derived from folk, tribal or regional tunes and melodies. These tunes and melodies were the first efforts by humans to express their most abstract and concrete feelings and emotions, vocally or instrumentally, using a certain pattern of notes. With the passage of time these tunes were grammatically tidied, formally stylised and transformed into ragas. The names themselves tell the story of their origin. Let’s take a look.
Multani, Jaunpuri, Gaud, Sorath suggest place names; Maand and Pahadi imply regions; Ahiri, Gujari, Asavari tell us about their tribal origins; Zilaf and Shahana indicate Islamic borrowings; Bhairav, Shankara, Kedar, Durga and Saraswati are named after Hindu deities; Mian Malhar, Charju-ki-Malhar and Bilaskhani Todi suggest the name of their creators.
Thus the rise of the concept of the raga owes much to several sources and has also been conditioned by several historical changes in the Indian society. Till about the fifteenth century, musicological descriptions and representations show a theoretical basis entirely different from what we have today. Historical forces and contacts with new cultures and world views have catalysed such changes.
The aesthetics of Raga- Ragini system
One of the most interesting aspects of the Indian classical music, which is often ignored in modern-day conversations, is the raga-ragini system. Dr Rajeev Nair talks about it in his book A Rasika’s Journey Through Hindustani Music. According to this system, every raga has an ideational aspect. This aspect is iconised in poetic form as dhyanamantram, and in visual form as ragamalika paintings. A musician is supposed to meditate on this composite visual and verbal media and derive inspiration from them. Following this the musician proceeds to portray the raaga, line by line, contour by contour, evoking both it’s outward form (rupa) and also its inherent attributes (guna).
For example, consider the ragas Megh and Malhar, which are associated with the monsoon season. The visual description is shown in the painting below.
Now let’s read the description, slowly.
Megh-Malhar is a good, wise king. He dances well and enjoys the pleasures of life with gay abandon. Of a slightly dusky complexion with bright shining eyes, King Megh-Malhar is dressed handsomely, adorned with all kinds of ornaments. He is in the company of beautiful maidens bedecked with jewels. The king dances with them to the resounding beat of drums and clapping. The dancing and music bring forth clouds of various colours in the sky. The moving clouds thicken to the accompaniment of thunder and lightning which brings the rain.
Since we have the understanding of the raga’s description, let’s allow ourselves to experience its melodious sounds. Just close your eyes and listen.
Isn’t the experience meditative?
The allotment of definite times of day or night, even seasons for rendering specific ragas is something that you’d not find in any other system. Each raga is supposed to be in harmony with particular human and natural moods. The idea is to endow both human moods and those of nature with mutuality and reciprocity, through the agency of music. It’s beautiful, isn’t it?
Kalampedia 