{"id":470,"date":"2009-07-12T09:29:09","date_gmt":"2009-07-12T16:29:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.parrikar.org\/?page_id=470"},"modified":"2019-06-05T12:17:34","modified_gmt":"2019-06-05T11:17:34","slug":"marubihag","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.parrikar.org\/hindustani\/marubihag\/","title":{"rendered":"An Evening with Raga MaruBihag"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Rajan P. Parrikar<\/strong>
\nFirst published on SAWF on January 8, 2001<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Rajan

Rajan P. Parrikar
(Artist: Nagaraj Patil)<\/p><\/div>\n

Namashkar.<\/em><\/p>\n

The much-loved Raga MaruBihag is of fairly recent vintage. \u00a0In Raga Darshan<\/em><\/strong>, the author Manikbuwa Thakurdas<\/strong> speaks of an older Raga Maru as its progenitor. \u00a0Be that as it may, the MaruBihag in currency is widely acknowledged to be a product of Atrauli-Jaipur founder Alladiya Khan<\/strong>‘s prodigious imagination. \u00a0Over the years and in the course of its journey across regions, the raga has acquired quaint touches and flavours reflecting the idiosyncrasies of some of the more creative minds.<\/p>\n

Throughout the discussion M <\/strong>= shuddha madhyam<\/em> and m <\/strong>= teevra madhyam<\/em>.<\/p>\n

MaruBihag’s core being is beholden to Kalyan; supporting material is supplied by Bihag. The two angas<\/em> are mediated by special melodic gestures as we shall shortly see. \u00a0The aroha-avarohana<\/em> set may be stated as follows:<\/p>\n

N’ S M, G, m P, N, S” :: S” N D P, m G, m G (S)R, S<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Since the aroha-avarohana<\/em> provides no more than a silhouette of the raga, a few lines will be devoted to fleshing out its central features. The rishab<\/em> and dhaivat<\/em> are varjit<\/em> in the ascending movement. \u00a0The teevra madhyam<\/em> is part of the raga’s Kalyan heritage and plays a key role. \u00a0The pancham<\/em> is the most important nyasa sthana<\/em>, the centre of melodic gravity, anchoring most of the action. \u00a0A large number of traditional compositions in MaruBihag have located their sam<\/em> on pancham<\/em>. The shadaj<\/em>, gandhar<\/em> and nishad<\/em> are also nyasa bahutva<\/em> swaras<\/em>. The rishab<\/em> merits special attention; it is characteristically intoned with a kan<\/em> of the shadaj<\/em>, to wit (S)R, S<\/strong>. The R<\/strong> is thus elongated and approached via the shadaj<\/em> – m, GRSR, S<\/strong>. The dhaivat<\/em> is occasionally rendered deergha<\/em> as in PD PD (P)m<\/strong> or from the tar<\/em> S”<\/strong> as in N S” D, P<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The contribution from Bihag is evident in\u00a0prayogas<\/em> such as P’ N’ S G <\/strong>or R N’ S G<\/strong>. \u00a0More dramatic is the piquant introduction of the shuddha madhyam<\/em>: S M, M G<\/strong>. \u00a0This foray is often concluded by the Kalyanic m G (S)R, S<\/strong>. The intersection of these movements represents the confluence of the Kalyan and Bihag angas<\/em>. There is an implicit nod to Bihag in the construction of MaruBihag’s tonal ribbons such as N’ S G m P <\/strong>or Gm P N<\/strong>. Whereas the teevra madhyam<\/em> tilts the development assuredly towards Kalyan, the underlying locus derives from Bihag. This subtle interplay of the two melodies is characteristic of MaruBihag. Remember, however, that Bihag is a Bilawal-anga<\/em> raga. Interestingly, S.N. Ratanjankar<\/strong> has conceived a raga named Marga Bihag with an entirely Bihag-like motion but with the proviso that only the teevra madhyam<\/em> is deployed.<\/p>\n

Much of the foregoing discussion is now compressed in the following two clips, elucidating the key elements of the poorvanga<\/em> and uttaranga<\/em>. Note that the kan-swara<\/em> (in parenthesis below) is not explicitly intoned. \u00a0The voice in these – and the earlier aroha-avarohana<\/em> – clips is Nachiketa Sharma<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

S (m)G m P, m G, m G (S)R, S
\nP’N’SM, M G, S (m)G (P)m P<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

and<\/p>\n

GmPN, N S”, PNS”G”, m” G” (S”)R”, S
\nN S” D, P, PD PD (P)m, mP mP (m)G
\nP’N’SM, G, G N D P m G (S)R, S<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/div>\n

We inaugurate the audio parade with the song from the movie EK RAAZ, composed by Chitragupta<\/strong>, and delivered in the magnificent voice of Kishore Kumar<\/a><\/strong>: payalawali dekha na.<\/em><\/p>\n

MaruBihag is entrenched in popular Indian imagination via the Mohammad Rafi – Lata Mangeshkar<\/strong> number from SEHRA, composed by Ramlal<\/strong>. It is hard to overstate Lata’s extraordinary abilities with sahitya<\/em> and swara<\/em>. So much came so naturally to her: tum to pyara ho.<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The primary and most influential carrier and transmitter of Alladiya Khan’s memes was Kesarbai Kerkar<\/strong> of Goa. \u00a0The original MaruBihag composition, rasiya ho na ja<\/em>, has travelled far and wide, and is sung in various textual interpolations. \u00a0A couple of points merit comment in this Kesarbai rendition. At about 0:19 into the clip the shuddha madhyam<\/em> arrives in a Bihag-like S G M<\/strong>, not a typical deployment in this raga. \u00a0The other item of note is the explicit Kalyan-esque m D N<\/strong> beginning at around 0:21. \u00a0This is eschewed by almost all but the Atrauli-Jaipur musicians. The alert listener will also catch the special\u00a0tan<\/em> constructions that embellish Kesarbai’s rendition<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The second-generation representative of Atrauli-Jaipur, Mallikarjun Mansur<\/a><\/strong>. This is classicism at its highest and most sublime.<\/p>\n

Bismillah Khan<\/a><\/strong>‘s mastery of his instrument is stamped all over this gem of a recording.<\/p>\n

Bhimsen Joshi<\/a><\/strong> weighs in his version of rasiya ho na<\/em>. Notice the maverick phrase involving\u00a0shuddha madhyam<\/em> as he launches the antara<\/em> with mana chinta<\/em>. The druta cheez<\/em> is the well-known tarapata raina dina.<\/em><\/p>\n

Roshanara Begum<\/a><\/strong>, rasiya ho na.<\/em><\/p>\n

In July 1995 Kashinath Bodas<\/strong> gave a private concert in Berkeley, California. Two weeks later he passed away in Canada. A clip of the Berkeley recording is offered. I am on the harmonium and Pranesh Khan<\/strong> is on the tabla. The composer is Omkarnath Thakur’s disciple, Balwantrai Bhatt “Bhavrang”<\/strong>: begi tuma aa’ao sundarva<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/a> <\/strong><\/em>(notice the unusual placement of the sam<\/em> on the teevra madhyam<\/em>).<\/p>\n

Ramashreya Jha “Ramrang”<\/a><\/strong> has composed marvelously in MaruBihag. Here we have his druta<\/em> composition celebrating the wedding of the four princes of Ayodhya. The pointed placement of the shuddha madhyam<\/em> on his mudra<\/em> in the antara<\/em> is pure magic.<\/p>\n

aaja re badhava baje Avadha nagara mein<\/em>
\nkunwara chari byahi ghara aaye
\nananda “Ramrang” dagara dagara mein<\/em><\/p>\n

Another druta<\/em> composition of Jha-sahab, this time by Shubha Mudgal<\/a><\/strong>:mana le gayo sanwara<\/em><\/p>\n

Aftab-e-Mausiqui Faiyyaz Khan<\/a><\/strong>‘s recording brings down the curtain on our soir\u00e9e. Take stock of the komal nishad<\/em> touched here as a vivadi swara<\/em> at 6:30 into the clip.<\/p>\n

Some readers may have noticed a correspondence between Ragas MaruBihag and Hemant via a murchhana<\/em> precipitating the avirbhava<\/em> of one raga in the other.<\/p>\n

 <\/div>\n

Raga Amritavarshini<\/strong><\/p>\n

A recent import from the Carnatic stream, this raga bears some likeness to MaruBihag. <\/p>\n

It is of\u00a0audav-jati<\/em> with the swara<\/em> set: S G m P N<\/strong>. \u00a0In Jitendra Abhisheki’s fecund melodic imagination was conceived this beautiful Marathi natyageeta<\/em> rendered by Asha Khadilkar<\/strong> in the drama DHADILA RAMA TINI KA VANI: le’oo kashi valkala.<\/strong><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Abhisheki<\/a><\/strong> himself, in a classical posture.<\/p>\n

 <\/div>\n

Addendum<\/em><\/strong>: Amir Khan<\/a><\/strong>‘s unpublished rendition of Raga Maru Kalyan is offered here without comment. It is left as an exercise to the reader to flesh out its details.<\/p>\n

 <\/div>\n
 <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Rajan P. Parrikar First published on SAWF on January 8, 2001 Namashkar. The much-loved Raga MaruBihag is of fairly recent vintage. \u00a0In Raga Darshan, the author Manikbuwa Thakurdas speaks of an older Raga Maru as its progenitor. \u00a0Be that as it may, the MaruBihag in currency is widely acknowledged to be a product of...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":25,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"pp_embeds":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.parrikar.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/470"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.parrikar.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.parrikar.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.parrikar.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.parrikar.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=470"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"https:\/\/www.parrikar.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/470\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5460,"href":"https:\/\/www.parrikar.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/470\/revisions\/5460"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.parrikar.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/25"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.parrikar.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}