What does a raga page on KalaSudha tell me?

A KalaSudha raga page gives the raga information a listener or student needs, starting with its aroha (ascent), avroh (descent) and pakad (catch phrase). It also names the thaat, the time of day, the vadi and samvadi, and lists KalaSudha recordings of the raga. The page opens with a summary, and technical detail and common phrases follow further down.

Find any raga on the Explore Ragas page. Open Yaman to follow along.

The top of the page

The raga's name appears in English and in Devanagari. Under it, Swara Notation gives the notes going up and coming down, split by a bar. Beside it sit the thaat, the time of day, the jati, the Vadi and Samvadi, and a one-line description.

Quick facts

This block repeats the essentials with plain-English labels:

• Thaat (Scale): the parent scale the raga belongs to.
• Time of Day: the part of the day the raga belongs to.
• Jati (Notes): how many notes it uses going up and coming down.
• Vadi (King Note) and Samvadi (Queen Note): the two notes the raga leans on most.
• Mood/Rasa: the feeling the raga carries.

Origins and context

The Origins & Context section says what the raga is and lists related ragas. It also links KalaSudha recordings of it where they exist. Press Show More to open the full text.

It explains the notation too. M# is tivra Ma, the sharp fourth. A dot marks a note in the lower octave, and an apostrophe a note in the upper octave.

Technical details

Technical Details sets out the raga note by note:

• Aroha (Ascent) and Avroh (Descent): the notes in order going up and coming down.
• Pakad (Catch Phrase): the short phrase that tells you which raga you are hearing.
• Chalan (Movement): how the melody moves through the notes.
• Tanpura Tuning: the drone tuning. Practise with it on the KalaSudha online tanpura.
• Additional Notes: further points about the raga.

Recordings and performances

Recordings & Performances lists KalaSudha recordings of the raga. When there are none yet, it says so. Open any recording on the list to reach its own page, where the listening buttons are. Listen to a KalaSudha album or track explains how.

Further down the page

Common Phrases under Phraseologies gives typical phrases of the raga, with a key to the notation.

Classifiers groups the raga by structure. It shows the Swara Geometries, the jati of the ascent and descent, and the notes the raga leaves out (varjit swaras). Raganga (Family) links to the raga family the raga belongs to.

Around the World compares the raga with Western modes and with its Carnatic counterparts.

Find a raga

1. Open the Explore Ragas page.
2. Use the Quick Filters to jump to a thaat, or to Morning, Afternoon, Evening or Night ragas.
3. For more, open All Filters. Type in Search Ragas, or choose a Thaat, a Time of Day (Samay) or a Jati (Number of Notes). Then press Apply filters.
4. Sort by name, thaat or time of day, early to late or late to early.
5. Press View Details on a raga card to open its page.

Raga pages do not appear in site search. Use this page instead, as Search KalaSudha for an artist, album or event explains.

Related help

New to ragas? Start with I'm new to Indian classical music. Where do I start? Gharanas and instruments have pages of their own: Explore gharanas, instruments and artforms on KalaSudha. For anything else, email [email protected] and we reply within one working day, or see Contact us.