Abhogi

Raag Abhogi is a Kafi thaat raga of Hindustani music, performed before midnight, that uses five notes: Sa, shuddha Re, komal Ga, shuddha Ma and shuddha Dha. Komal means lowered and shuddha means natural, and a thaat is a parent scale. Abhogi leaves out Pa and Ni. It is also written Raag Abhogi or Raga Abhogi, and the AUTRIM project also calls it Abhogi Kanada.

In the notation here, lowercase marks a komal note, a dot the lower octave and an apostrophe the upper. The aroha, or ascent, is S R g M D S'. The avaroha, or descent, is S' D M g R g M R S, R .D .D S, ending on lower Dha. The vadi, the most prominent note, is Ma, and the samvadi, its partner, is Sa. The AUTRIM project of the National Centre for the Performing Arts and the University of Amsterdam also names Ma and Sa as its important notes. G. K. Subhash (2024) gives the reverse order, Sa as vadi and Ma as samvadi.

One phrase gives Abhogi its Kanada colour. AUTRIM names g M R S, a return from komal Ga to Ma before Re, as the Kanada phrase of the descent. It adds that many musicians sing M g R S instead. Bageshri shares these notes but adds komal Ni and a little Pa. AUTRIM traces Abhogi to south Indian classical music. In Carnatic music it is a janya of the 22nd melakarta, Kharaharapriya, with the same five notes.

KalaSudha presents Hindustani musicians in concert and releases their recordings. Its academy teaches ragas online and in local workshops, and each course is built by its instructor with KalaSudha.