Indian music is based on melody (raaga) and rhythm (tala).

A Raaga is a broad fr
amework of musical notes of a melody in its Arohan (ascent) and Avarohan (descen
t). The fundamental purpose of the Raaga is to please the listeners by evoking t
he requisite mood or emotion in the hearts of the listeners. Raagas can be diffe
rentiated as they follow fixed musical notes in their arohan and avarohan. Those
Raagas that do not follow any strict rule of arohan or avarohan are known as Va
kra (crooked or nonlinear) Raagas.
Raagas can be broadly classified according to swaras, thaats or time. A swara is
a musical note. Raagas can be Audava Raagas (having five swaras or musical note
s), Shaadava (six musical notes) and Sampoorna (seven musical notes).
Vishnu Narayana Bhatkhande (1860-1936) classified innumerable Hindustani Raagas
into ten Thaats, namely, Bilawal, Kalyan, Khamaj, Bhairav, Poorvi, Marwa, Kafi,
Asavari, Bhairavi and Todi. There are also Raagas by the name of the Thaats. The
difference is that a Thaat gives the basic framework of the notes; however, in
exposition it is the Raaga that has numerous variations and brings out the true
emotion. For example Thaat Asavari has arohan or ascent as Sa Re Ga (shuddha or
komal) Ma Pa Dha (Shuddha) Ni (Shuddha). But while singing Raaga Asavari the asc
ent is Sa Re Ma Ga and later Ni Pa Sa (upper) Dha Pa. So the arohan (ascent) and
avarohan (descent) bring out the emotion of the Raaga, which is possible only i
n exposition. To properly familiarize oneself with the Thaat, a critical underst
anding of a Raaga's exposition is necessary. The Thaat classificatory system alt
hough limited and perhaps flawed, is nevertheless a useful tool to understand th
ousands of Ragaas.
The Raagas may be classified according to time and juxtaposed with Thaat. Althou
gh there is no hard and fast rule when a particular raaga may be sung; however,
it is noted that a particular raaga is most effective during a particular time.
Based on this logic, an example is given below with few Raagas only.
2am-4am is Pre-Dawn: Raaga Sohini (Thaat Marwa); Raaga Paraj (Thaat Poorvi).
4am-6am is Dawn: Raaga Bhatiyar (is a Sandhi Prakash Raaga and belongs to Thaat
Marwa); Raaga Lalit (is a Sandhi Prakash Raaga and belongs to Thaat Marwa).
6am-8am is Early Morning: Raaga Bhairav (Thaat Bhairav); Raaga Ramkali (Thaat Bh
airav); Raaga Jogia (Thaat Bhairav).
8am-10am is Morning: Raaga Ahir Bhairav (Thaat Bhairav); Raaga Bilaskhani Todi (
Thaat Bhairavi); Raaga Komal Rishabh Asavari (Thaat Bhairavi); Raaga Todi (Thaat
Todi).
10am-12noon is Late Morning: Raaga Bhairavi (Thaat Bhairavi); Raaga Deshkar (Tha
at Bilawal); Raaga Alahiya Bilawal (Thaat Bilawal); Raaga Jaunpuri (Thaat Asavar
i).
12noon-2pm is Afternoon: Raaga Brindavani Sarang (Thaat Kafi); Raaga Shuddha Sar
ang (Thaat Kafi); Raaga Gaud Sarang (Thaat Kalyan).
2pm-4pm is Late Afternoon: Raaga Bhimpalasi (Thaat Kafi); Raaga Multani (Thaat T
odi).
4pm-6pm is Dusk: Raaga Poorvi (is a Sandhi Prakash Raaga and belongs to Thaat Po
orvi); Raaga Shree (is a Sandhi Prakash Raaga and belongs to Thaat Poorvi); Raag
a Patdeep (Thaat Kafi).
6pm-8pm is Evening: Raaga Yaman (Thaat Kalyan); Raaga Puriya (Thaat Marwa); Raag
a Shuddha Kalyan (Thaat Kalyan); Raaga Hameer (Thaat Kalyan).
8pm-10pm is Late Evening: Raga Jayjaiwanti (Thaat Khamaj); Raaga Kedar (Thaat Ka
lyan); Raaga Durga (Thaat Bilawal); Raaga Desh (Thaat Khamaj).
10pm-12midnight is Night: Raaga Bihag (Thaat Bilawal); Raaga Bageshri (Thaat Kaf
i); Raaga Shankara (Thaat Bilawal); Raaga Chandrakauns (Thaat Kafi).
12midnight to 2am is Midnight: Raaga Malkauns (Thaat Bhairavi); Raaga Darbari Ka
nada (Thaat Asavari); Raaga Shahana (Thaat Kafi); Raaga Adana (Thaat Asavari).
2am-4am is Pre-Dawn: Raaga Sohini (Thaat Marwa); Raaga Paraj (Thaat Poorvi).
There are thousands of Raagas and many are similar leading to confusion in their
 recognition, if they are not properly rendered or understood. More than the mus
ical notes that the Raaga comprises of, the importance is given to the mood or t
he emotion that the Raga evokes, by which the Raaga may be easily recognized. Ot
her recognition features are the chalan or how the raaga finds its exposition by
the use of main phrases, emphasis or de-emphasis on certain notes, meends, gama
ks, alankars, aandolits, glides, sargams and taans. Although the musical notes o
f the Raagas may be same but their exposition differentiates them. Raaga Jaunpur
i and Raaga Darbari Kanhada have the same notes but their renderings are very di
fferent and thus the moods evoked are also very different. Both raagas are of th
aat Asavari and have komal gandhar, dhaivat, and nishad. Alankars or ornamentati
ons are balanced in Jaunpuri whereas meends and gamaks are much used in Darbari
Kanhada. In Jaunpuri, the arohan is Sa Re Ma Pa dha ni Sa (upper) and the avaroh
an is Sa (upper) ni dha Pa Ma ga Re Sa making the Jati of the raaga as Shadaava-
Sampoorna (six notes in arohan and seven notes in avarohan). Whereas in Darbari
Kanhada, the arohan is Sa Re ga Ma Pa dha ni Sa (upper) and the avarohan is Sa
(upper) dha ni Pa Ma Pa ga Ma Re Sa, making the Jati of the raaga as Sampoorna-S
haadava (seven notes in arohan and six notes in avarohan). In Jaunpuri the main
note or Vadi is komal dhaivat and the supporting note or samvadi is komal gandha
r. Whereas in Darbari Kanhada, the vadi is Rishabh and the samvadi is Pancham. T
hese and many other distinguishing features can be fully realised and understood
by careful exposition and listening. Some raagas that are commonly confused are
:
- Sohini, Puriya, Marwa
- Gurjari Todi, Todi
- Jaunpuri, Darbari Kanhada, Adana
- Bahar, Mian Ki Malhar
- Piloo, Gara, Sindura, Barwa
- Shyam Kalyan, Shudh Sarang
- Shudh Kalyan, Bhupali, Deshkar
An expert singer can distinguish between raagas and thereby evoke a particular m
ood or emotion in the listener. The ultimate aim of any raaga and any singer is
to evoke the necessary mood or the emotion in the hearts of the listeners. In th
e end, the listeners must be pleased with the renditions of the singer.
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