Explore Classical Music Ragas

This is a carnatic raaga and quite famous in Hindustani as well.

The 'g m R S' combination in Avroha makes it Vakra. This raag also resembles Darbari Kanada. Some say this raag is a mix of Kanada and raag Megh.

Sometimes in the Aaroh, shuddha rishabh (R) is also used.

The difference between "Bilawal" & "Alhaiya Bilawal" is that, in Alhaiya, the Madhyam (Ma) is varjya is aroha & Nishad is komal (sometimes) in Avroha. Bilawal has all shudha, seven notes.

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This raaga has a Vakra nature. It is usually sung to appreciate nature. Both the Nishads (komal and shuddha) are used.

This raaga is uttarang pradhan. Sometimes shudha Ma is also used. This is a uttarang pradran raga.

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This raaga uses both the Madhyamas. The group of 'Pa Ga' and 'Dha Ma' brings sweetness to this raaga.

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This is also known as raaga Kaushik Dhwani.

This raga is discovered in last few decades and does not fall into any of the 10 thaats of hindustani classical music. Its also not that famous since it isnt traditional. Also called as Bhoopkali, Prateeksha, Bhoopshree & Vasanthi(in carnatic)

This raga is similar to raag Deshkar in notes. Ma and Ni are varjya in both ragas which make them of 5 notes, thus Audav-Audav jaati. The difference lies in gayaki (way its sung), usage of notes and shrutis (microtones). Bhoop/Bhoopali is a poorvang pradhan raaga (Which means most of the singing is in Mid(madhaya) or lower(mandra) octave) where as Deshkar is uttarang pradhan raaga (Mostly sung in mid or high(tar) octave/saptak. Gandhar - Dhaivat sangati is strong in raag bhoopali and Rishub is the nyas swar. Raag bhoopali is also popular as raag Mohan in carnatic music.

Bibhas (Also known as Vibhas) is a uttarang pradhan raaga (most of the notes sung are in mid to high octave). This one is originated from thaat bhairav. There are other forms of raag bibhas which are originated from purvi and marwa thaats, but this one is more popular. In this one, some believe that Samvadi swar is Rishabh (Re).

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The chalan is like todi. This raag was created by son of Miya Tansen, Bilas kha.

All the notes in this raaga are shuddha. This is also called as Shuddha Bilaval

This raaga uses both the Nishads (Ni). This is very common and popular raaga.

Charukeshi is taken from carnatic music. It does not belong to any of Hindustani thaats.

This raaga has a Vakra nature. It has usage of both the madhayamas. Tivra Madhyam is used only in Aroha but Shuddha Madhyama is used in both Aroha-Avroha.

This is also sung in vakra gati. The speciality of this raaga is the way gandhar and dhaivat notes are rendered. In Aroha, Ga and Dha are rendered with a kan of Re and Pa respectively and in Avroh with Ma and Ni. You can notice in the flute audio. This raag is said to have a serious mood

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This raaga resembles bhupali (Kalyan Thaat) in scale. This raaga is Uttaranga Vadi Raaga <br> Dha is very strong in Deshkar

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Some believe that this raag is from Khamaj thaat. Both the Nishads are used, but there is an argument about just shuddha Gandhar or both the Gandhars. So there are 2 versions, both are popular. We are covering the one with both the Gandhars. (The other one will have only Shuddha Gandhar).

This song has Vakra swaroop. Both Madhyam (म) are used.

The raaga brings pity emotion. It is a serious mood raaga but not as deep as bhairav. Some combinations like Ga ma Pa Dha Pa makes it different from bhairav. This raaga, which is originated from Bhairav thaat is more popular than its other form(of raag Gauri) which is originated from Poorvi thaat.

Both the Madhyamas are used in this Raaga.

This one is also derived from carnatic music. This raaga is similar to Shankara. It was not popular in north india initially but now it has become very popular. There are various compositions especially bhajans based on similar tunes which is easlily identifiable as Hansdhwani.

This belongs to Marwa thaat according to some people. This is a uttarang pradhan raga.

Both the Gandhars and Nishads are used in this Raaga. This raaga is said to have a mixture of Gaud, Bilawal and Sorat raagas. It is also said that this raaga transitions from one thaat to other, that is, form Khamaj to Kaafi because of its characteristics. The Rishabh note is hit in a very peculiar manner in this raaga (Please listen to the flute).

This raaga is very similar to Bhoopali. The vaadi swaras make it different. The combination of Ga-Pa in aroha and Dha-Ga in avaroha makes this raaga identifiable.

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This raaga has a vakra nature in avroh. Due to the presence of Rishabh in Aroha, this one is isolated from Raag Khamaj.

This raaga has usage of both the Gandhars (Ga).

This raaga has a heavy atmosphere. It is usually used in thumri and bhajans.

This raaga has a shadav- shadav vakra jaati. Both Gandhars and Nishads are used. This is relatively new raaga and doesnt fit into 10 thaats.

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This song resembles Raag Bhairav due to its komal Re and Ga

This raaga uses both madhyamas in avroha, hence its jaati can also be called as Sampoorna - Sampoora vakra. In Aroha, only tivra Madhyam is used.

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This raaga has both the Nishads.

Like raaga Bhoopeshwari, this also doesn't fit in 10 thaats, hence the thaat of this raaga is mishra. This is also called as Mishra Kirvani.

This raaga has vakra nature in avaroha. Both the Madhyamas are used. The raag shows prominent presence in bhakti and karuna rasa songs. This song is uttarang pradhan. This raaga can be easily identified with 'N r G m M m G' phrase. In some practices, komal dhaivat (dha) is used, but usage of shuddha dha is more generalised and popular.

This has a vakra nature in avroha. The swaras Re and Dha are weak in aroha and vakra in avroha.

This raaga is a type of Sarang which belongs to Kaafi thaat. Also called as Madhmad sarang.You can identify this raag with specific Pa-Re and Ni-Pa combination

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This raaga is similar to Raag Puriya.

This raaga can be sung any time in monsoon season. There are lot of Rain songs based on this raaga. This is also called as raag Megh.

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This raaga is also sung at any time in monsoon season. This beautiful raaga is named Miyan malhar because it was create by the great Miyan Tansen. Some also refer to this as "Miyan ki Malhar". This raaga uses both Nishads.

Rishabh(Re), Gandhar(Ga) and Dhaivat(Dha) should be used carefully, not to make it sound like raag Todi. Sa, Pa and Ni are the vishranti swaras in Multani.

Pahadi (A raaga of hill people) uses both the Nishads but the usage of Nishads overall is too less. This sometimes stimulates multiple echoes which is observed in many songs. This raaga is observed in many hindi songs and is sung mostly in lower and middle octaves. Lot of the songs are sung in Mishra Pahadi where it is decorated by komal Ga, Komal Ni, Tivra Ma.

This raaga uses both the Madhyamas. This is a Uttarang Pradhan raga

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This raag uses both Gandhars, Dhaivats and Nishads. In this Raag Komal Nishad is used with Shuddha Dhaivat and Shuddha Nishad is used with Komal Dhaivat. Mostly used in bhajans. Some say this is a Mishra Raaga since its a combination of Bhimpalasi, Bhairavi and Gauri. Vaadi is Komal Gandhar and Samvadi is Shuddha Nishad.

The notes in raag Puriya are same as in Marwa. However, In this, Ga and Ni are vadi and samvadi respectively. Also in this, Ni-Ma , Dha-Ga sangati is there. This is a Poorvang pradhan raaga.

This raaga resembles with raaga Poorvi. This has only tivra madhyama where as Poorvi uses both the madhyamas. The samvadi swar in Raag Pooriya Dhanashree is Komal Rishabh.

This raaga resembles with raaga Puriya dhanashree. Both the Madhyamas are used in avaroha. Thus, the jaati can also be called as sampoorna sampoorna vakra. This raaga depicts series emotion. Shuddha dhaivat (Dha) is also used in this raaga by some but rarely.

In carnatic system, there is a raaga named 'Naatkuranjika' which is similar to Rageshwari. The Dha-Ma combination is very pleasing in this raaga. This is also know as Rageshri.

Raaga Raamkali is very similar to raaga Bhairav. General rule to differentiate according to some gurus is that this raaga is mostly sung in Madhaym and Tar saptak as unlike bhairav which is in Mandra and Madhyam saptak.There are 3 types of this Raaga. We are discussing the most common and popular type, where both the Madhyamas and Nishads are used.

It is an Uttaranga pradhan raga. The Rishabh (Re) is used less frequently, in avaroha but it suppliments gandhar significantly

Similar to bhupali, except for the difference of komal gandhar.

This raaga is of a serious nature and its very popular. The pattern 'S (G) r r S' is what defines this raaga.

This has aroha like bhupali and avroha like Yaman. The jaati can also be called as Audav-Sampoora-Vakra due to its vakra nature in Avroh. There are many famous old songs in bollywood prominently based on this raaga.

This is Uttarangvadi raaga. This looks similar to Poorvi, but most of the notes are sung in taar saptak. Rishabh is weak in aroha.

This has its similarity to Des raga.This raaga has 'D m R' pattern which uniquely signifies the raaga.

Some experts claim if we make the Ni komal, this would become Raag Bihari. Some use both the Nishads in this raaga. The Avaroha is not sung straight like 'S N D P' if you observe closely.

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The difference between "Yaman" and "Yaman Kalyan" is that in Yaman Kalyan, we can observe the usage shuddha madhyam(ma) in little quantity.