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Malhar

Thaat	Kafi
Type	This raga's Jati is Shadhav – Shadhav. This raga has a Vakra form, i.e. this raga is a Vakra raga (meaning that the svaras of a raga are not completely in a particularly straightforward manner). This raga is a Ghambir Prakruti raga (meaning that is played slow with patience and which is played in a serious tone/note).
Time of day	any time in monsoon, otherwise in the 2nd Prahar of the Night.
Season	Monsoon
Arohana	N S m R P n D N S'
Avarohana	S' n P m P g(m touch) g(m touch) m R S
Pakad	N S m R P g m R S m R P n D N S' S' n D n P m P g g m R S
Chalan	N S m R P g m R S m R P n D N S' S' n D n P m P g g m R S
Vadi	Pa
Samavadi	Sa
Synonym	Miyan Ki Malhar, Miyan Malhar
Similar	Bahar Darbari Kanada

"Malhar" is a Hindustani classical raga. Malhar is associated with torrential rains.

Besides the basic Shuddha Malhar, which was the original Malhar, several Malhar-related ragas use the Malhar signature phrase m (m)R (m)R P, including "Miyan ki Malhar", "Megh Malhar", "Ramdasi Malhar", "Gaud Malhar", "Sur Malhar", "Shuddha Malhar", "Desh Malhar", "Nat Malhar", "Dhulia Malhar", and "Meera ki Malhar". This phrase, although it might seem similar and equivalent, is different from the swara phraseology employed in Raga "Brindavani Sarang".

It can be determined that raga Malhar or rather Miyan ki Malhar is a mixture of ragas "Brindavani Sarang", raga "Kafi" and raga "Durga".This raga has a Vakra form (meaning that the swaras of a raga are not completely arranged in a particularly straightforward manner), and is classified as a Ghambir Prakruti raga (meaning that it is played slow with patience, and it is played in a serious tone/note).

Legend

According to legend, Malhar is so powerful that when sung, it can induce rainfall.

Many written accounts describe the Raga Malhar. Tansen, Baiju Bawra, Baba Ramdas, Nayak Charju, Miyan Bakhshu, Tanta rang, Tantras Khan, Bilas Khan (son of Tansen), Hammer Sen, Surat Sen, and Meera Bai are some of those said to be capable of starting rains using various kinds of Raga Malhar.

Mughal emperor Akbar once asked his court musician Miyan Tansen to sing "Raga Deepak", the raga of Light/Fire, which caused all the lamps in the courtyard to light up and Tansen's body to become so hot that he had to sit in the nearby river to cool himself. However, the river began to boil, and it became apparent that Tansen would soon boil to death. So he set out to find someone who could sing Raga Malhar to cure him. In due course, he reached Vadnagar, a town in Gujarat. There he came across two sisters named Tana and Riri, whom he asked for help, to which they agreed. The moment they started singing the Raga Malhar, rains came down in torrents, which helped cool Tansen's body.

The many variations of Raga Malhar have been categorised chronologically by era – prachina (before the 15th century), madhyakalina (15th – 18th century) and arvachina (19th century and beyond). Ragas Shuddha Malhar, Megh Malhar and Gaud Malhar belong to the first period. "Miyan Ki Malhar", also known as Gayand Malahar as both nishads (shudh and komal) swing around the dhaivat like a (gayand) elephant swinging his head.

Prominent Bandishes composed in Raga Malhar

In popular culture

In Bankim Chandra Chatterjee's Bengali language novel Anandamath (1882), a band of yogis sing Vande mataram in Raga Desh.

In Satyajit Ray's film Jalsaghar, Raga Malhar is used to link the powers of nature and the hero's internal conflict.

The song Thumbi Thullal from the movie Cobra is based on this raag. It is composed by A. R. Rahman and sung by Shreya Ghoshal & Nakul Abhyankar.

Historical information

There is a legend stating that Tansen's physical agony after singing Raga Deepak (Poorvi Thaat) was pacified with listening to Raga "Megh Malhar" rendered by Tana and Riri.

Film songs

Tamil

Also see

• Malhar (family of ragas)

References

1. Bhavan's Journal v.26:14-26 (1980). Page 27.
2. Manorma Sharma (2007). Music Aesthetics. APH Publishing. p. 113. ISBN 978-81-313-0032-9.
3. Tankha, Rajkumari Sharma. "An evening of Malhar raags". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
4. ^ Banerjee, Dr. Geeta (2000). Raag Malhar Darshan. SAWF. Archived from the original on 2013-12-13. Retrieved 2013-12-13.
5. Chaitanya Deva (1995). Indian Music. Taylor & Francis. p. 18. ISBN 978-81-224-0730-3.
6. Mathur, Dr Neeta. Shastriya Sangeet Ke Bahuayami Stambh. New Delhi: Kanishka Publishers , New Delhi.
7. Mathur, Dr.Neeta (2011). Shashtriya Sangeet Ke Surya Acharya Pandit Dr Gokulotsavji Maharaj. Radha Publishers. ISBN 978-81-7487-765-9.
8. ^ Raga Archived 2012-11-14 at the Wayback Machine. Centre of South Asian Studies, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.

• Hindustani ragas
• Ragas in the Guru Granth Sahib