Pilu
पीलू
S G M P N S' | S' n D P M g R S, .N S g R S
Origins & Context
Raag Pilu is a Kafi thaat raga of Hindustani music, performed at any time, that uses both forms of Ga, Dha and Ni with the other notes shuddha. Shuddha means natural, komal lowered, and a thaat is a parent scale. George Howlett tags its thaat as inexact and calls Pilu perhaps the most emblematic thumri raga.
In this notation, lowercase g, d and n are komal. A leading dot marks the lower octave and an apostrophe the upper. One teaching outline gives the aroha, or ascent, as S G M P N S', and the avaroha, or descent, as S' n D P M g R S, .N S g R S. It names Ga as the vadi, the most prominent note, and Ni as the samvadi, its partner, with rests on komal Ga and the lower shuddha Ni.
The AUTRIM project of the National Centre for the Performing Arts and the University of Amsterdam hears shuddha Ga and Ni going up and the komal forms coming down. It finds Pilu in folk song and in light forms such as thumri and dadra, and rarely in the pure classical idiom except among instrumentalists.
KalaSudha presents Hindustani musicians in concert and releases their recordings. We have released Raag Pilu by Pandit Debasis Chakroborty on slide guitar, with Durjay Bhaumik on tabla. Our 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 G M P N S'
Avroh (Descent)
S' n D P M g R S, .N S g R S
Pakad (Catch Phrase)
G M P N S', n D P, M P N d P, M g R S, P g R S .N, S g R S
Tanpura Tuning
P - S - S - .S
Additional Notes
Phraseologies
Key for these phrases: lowercase g, d and n are komal, a leading dot marks the lower octave and an apostrophe the upper.
One teaching outline gives the signature turn .P .N S g, g R S .N. It pairs komal Ni with shuddha Dha and shuddha Ni with komal Dha, and develops the raga in the lower and middle octaves. The AUTRIM project uses komal Dha only in special phrases with Pa and komal Ni, and hears the lower Ni as an important resting point, with songs that often begin on the lower Pa.
AUTRIM adds that instrumental compositions also bring in komal Re and tivra Ma. Rajan Parrikar, as George Howlett quotes him, says that "all the 12 swaras have visitation rights".
Common Phrases
Recordings & Performances
Listen to master musicians perform this raga
Around the World
Global connections and equivalent scales
With Sa on C, Pilu draws on C, D, E flat, E, F, G, A flat, A, B flat and B. George Howlett describes it as the Aeolian and Ionian modes combined, and gives Carnatic Kapi as an approximate counterpart.