Bhupali
भूपाली
S R G P D S' | S' D P G R S R .D S
Origins & Context
Raag Bhupali is a Kalyan thaat raga of Hindustani music, performed in the early part of the night, that uses five notes: Sa, Re, Ga, Pa and Dha. All five are shuddha, or natural, and Ma and Ni are left out. A thaat is a parent scale. It is also written Raag Bhoopali or Raga Bhupali, and Rajan Parrikar notes that it is also known as Bhoop.
In the notation here, a dot marks the lower octave and an apostrophe the upper. The aroha, or ascent, is S R G P D S'. The avaroha, or descent, is S' D P G R S R .D S, closing with a turn through lower Dha. The vadi, the most prominent note, is Ga, and the samvadi, its partner, is Dha. Parrikar writes that its tonal activity revolves around Ga.
Bhupali shares its notes with Deshkar, a lively early-morning raga, and the two part ways in treatment. The AUTRIM project of the National Centre for the Performing Arts and the University of Amsterdam finds Pa and Dha stronger in Deshkar, where Re is weak and never held. Deshkar also avoids the glides that Bhupali uses. Carnatic music has a corresponding raga, Mohanam, as Parrikar notes.
KalaSudha presents Hindustani musicians in concert across its series and festivals, and releases their recordings. Its academy teaches ragas online and in local workshops, and each course is built by its instructor with KalaSudha.
Technical Details
Melodic structure and movement patterns
Aroha (Ascent)
S R G P D S'
Avroh (Descent)
S' D P G R S R .D S
Pakad (Catch Phrase)
G R G, P G, D P, S' D P G, P G R G, G R S
Tanpura Tuning
P - S - S - .S
Additional Notes
Phraseologies
Key for these phrases: D is shuddha Dha, and a dot before a note puts it in the lower octave.
Bhupali develops mostly in the lower and middle registers. In P G, a glide falls from Pa to Ga, and R .D S dips below Sa before returning. Phrases come to rest on Ga, Pa and Sa, and Re is also a resting note.
Making Dha a strong resting point pulls the melody towards Deshkar. A touch of Ni in a glide from Sa to Dha, or of Ma between Pa and Ga, brings in a shade of Shuddha Kalyan. AUTRIM names Shuddha Kalyan and Jait Kalyan as shades that can creep in.
Common Phrases
Around the World
Global connections and equivalent scales
With Sa on C, Bhupali's five notes are C D E G A, the Western major pentatonic. Berklee PULSE defines that scale by the degrees 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6 of a major scale.
The Digital and Cognitive Musicology Lab at EPFL shows the five core degrees of Chinese theory, gong to yu, as C D E G A with gong on C.