Basant Bahar
बसन्त बहार
S M P g M, M# d N S' | S' n P n M P G M# G, M# G r S
Origins & Context
Raag Basant Bahar is a Hindustani raga outside the thaat system, performed at any hour in spring and otherwise late at night, that uses all twelve notes. It is a jod raga, a compound of Basant and Bahar. Komal means lowered, shuddha natural and tivra raised, and a thaat is a parent scale. It is also written Basant Baahar.
In this notation, lowercase is a komal note, M# is tivra Ma and an apostrophe the upper octave. The aroha, or ascent, is S M P g M, M# d N S'. The avaroha, or descent, is S' n P n M P G M# G, M# G r S. The vadi, the most prominent note, is upper Sa, and the samvadi, its partner, is Pa.
Deepak Raja's model takes the ascent from Bahar and the descent from Basant. Arvind Parikh writes that many musicians prefer Basant to lead, while the Saptak School of Music gives the two equal weight.
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 M P g M, M# d N S'
Avroh (Descent)
S' n P n M P G M# G, M# G r S
Additional Notes
Phraseologies
Key for these phrases: lowercase letters are komal notes, M# is tivra Ma, and an apostrophe puts a note in the upper octave.
The ascent opens S M P g M, with shuddha Ma and komal Ga, then rises through tivra Ma, komal Dha and shuddha Ni to upper Sa. The descent passes komal Ni and shuddha Ma before it closes on M# G r S. Phrases rest on Sa, Ma and Pa.
The Saptak School of Music names Sa, shuddha Ma and Pa as the points where the two parents meet. Arvind Parikh also names shuddha Ma as a link.