Krsna Kirtana Songs est. 2001 www.kksongs.org
Home ⇒ Music Center ⇒ Ragamala ⇒ Index of Ragas
Raga Name: Basanta Mukhari
That Name: Bhairava
Aroha: S r G m P d n S’
Avaroha: S’ n d P m G r S
Jati: Sampurna-Sampurna
Vadi: P
Samvadi: S
Swarupa: P d n d P G m (G)r S
Prahar: 7th Prahar (9 PM to 12 AM)
Raga Information:
Raga Basanta Mukhari (“face of spring”) is a raga whose scale is widely recognized in the Western and Indian musical worlds, yet received very little to no credit as far as naming the scale is concerned. What Indian music scholars believe is that this raga might have come from the Carnatic system, due to the inability to fit into one of Bhatkhande’s ten thats. The original presumed raga, Ragam Vakulabharanam, was the fourteenth melakarta of the mela system which was after the “Bhairava-equivalent” and before the “Ahir-Bhairava equivalent.” By default, it got placed in the Bhairava category.
While the scale seems very lenient and straightforward, it should be known that this raga is generally rendered in moods other than morning devotion. It would be quite difficult to churn the same Bhairava effect that exists with Basanta Mukhari due to the komal ni and the overall leniency of the raga. This explains why this raga stays in lighter compositions.
UPDATED: September 1, 2015