Chhayanat
छायानट
S R G R, G P M G R S, S R G M P D N S' | S' N D P M# P D P, R G M P M G R S
Origins & Context
Raag Chhayanat is a Kalyan thaat raga of Hindustani music, performed at night, that uses the shuddha notes with light touches of tivra Ma and komal Ni. Shuddha means natural, tivra raised and komal lowered, and a thaat is a parent scale. George Howlett tags its thaat as inexact. It is also written Chayanat, Chaya Nata or Chaya Nut.
Here lowercase is komal, M# is tivra Ma, a dot the lower octave and an apostrophe the upper. The aroha, or ascent, is S R G R, G P M G R S, S R G M P D N S'. The avaroha, or descent, is S' N D P M# P D P, R G M P M G R S. The vadi, the most prominent note, is Pa, and the samvadi, its partner, is Re, though the pair is also given the other way round. The AUTRIM project of the National Centre for the Performing Arts and the University of Amsterdam calls the glide from Pa down to Re highly characteristic.
AUTRIM calls Chhayanat an old and important raga, related to the now obscure Nat. George Howlett describes it as a longstanding combination of Chaya and Nat. AUTRIM adds that Kamod and Kedar have similar tone material and similar melodic movements, so a clear idea of each is needed to keep them apart.
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 R G R, G P M G R S, S R G M P D N S'
Avroh (Descent)
S' N D P M# P D P, R G M P M G R S
Pakad (Catch Phrase)
.P R R, R G M P, G M R S, S' P R G, M G M R S R S
Additional Notes
Phraseologies
Key for these phrases: lowercase letters are komal notes, M# is tivra Ma, a dot puts a note in the lower octave, and an apostrophe in the upper.
The AUTRIM project writes that the ascent begins by stressing Re, usually approached from Ga above, and that high Sa is sometimes reached straight from Pa. It hears tivra Ma as a light grace note of Pa. Komal Ni comes in phrases such as M n D P.
The outline used here keeps tivra Ma to the ascent, as in D M# P, P D M# P, and uses komal Ni as a vivadi, a sparing outside note, as in R G M n D P. One teaching outline counts six notes in the ascent, leaving Ni out, where the outline used here counts seven.
Common Phrases
Around the World
Global connections and equivalent scales
With Sa on C, Chhayanat uses C, D, E, F, F sharp, G, A and B, with B flat now and then. George Howlett gives the jazz scale he calls Lydionian, 1 2 3 4 #4 5 6 7, as its translation.