Ragesri
रागेश्री
S G M D n S' | S' n D M G M R S
Origins & Context
Raag Rageshri is a Khamaj thaat raga of Hindustani music, performed at night, that uses shuddha Ga, Ma and Dha with komal Ni, leaves out Pa, and drops Re going up. Shuddha means natural, komal lowered, and a thaat is a parent scale. It is also written Ragesri or Rageshvari.
In this notation, lowercase n is komal Ni, a leading dot marks the lower octave and an apostrophe the upper. One teaching outline gives the aroha, or ascent, as S G M D n S'. Its avaroha, or descent, is S' n D M G M R S. It names Ga as the vadi, the most prominent note, and Ni as the samvadi, its partner, and calls Ma strong.
The AUTRIM project of the National Centre for the Performing Arts and the University of Amsterdam notes that, with no Pa, Ma comes forward, and the tanpura is tuned to Ma. It finds the upper half very close to Bageshri, which keeps Pa. Most musicians now use only komal Ni, though older practice used both forms.
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.
Technical Details
Melodic structure and movement patterns
Aroha (Ascent)
S G M D n S'
Avroh (Descent)
S' n D M G M R S
Pakad (Catch Phrase)
.n .D .n S, G M R S, G M D n D M, G M R S
Tanpura Tuning
M - S - S - .S
Additional Notes
Phraseologies
Key for these phrases: lowercase n is komal Ni, a note in brackets is a grace note, a leading dot marks the lower octave and an apostrophe the upper.
One teaching outline calls the link between Dha and Ga the signature of Rageshri, as in its turns M G and M D G. Going up, Re can appear as a grace to Ga, as in S G (R)G M R S. The AUTRIM project hears Dha as a frequent resting place both ways, and Re taken obliquely on the way down, as in G M R S.
The outline also describes a rare variant with Pa, known as Pancham Rageshri.
Common Phrases
Around the World
Global connections and equivalent scales
With Sa on C, Rageshri uses C, D, E, F, A and B flat. George Howlett gives the Mixolydian mode with no fifth as its jazz translation, and Carnatic Nattakurinji as an approximate counterpart.