Malhar
मल्हार
Origins & Context
Raag Malhar is a family (raganga) of Hindustani ragas tied to the monsoon; Platts' dictionary of 1884 glosses the word as a musical mode sung during the rains. The AUTRIM project of the National Centre for the Performing Arts and the University of Amsterdam writes that Megh, as a member of the Malhar family, is associated with the rainy season. A raganga is a group of ragas built on one melodic core; here that core is a movement. Rajan Parrikar calls the figure M (M)R (M)R P, Ma falling to Re and rising to Pa, the core of every Malhar; a note in brackets is a grace note, touched lightly. George Howlett adds the weight on shuddha (natural) Re, Ma and Pa, and the fluid ornaments that mimic rain. The name is also written Malhaar or Mallar.
Parrikar names Shuddha Malhar the original Malhar and places Gaud Malhar among the oldest. Lore credits Tansen with creating Miyan ki Malhar, one of the family's most popular ragas in AUTRIM's words, Parrikar records; the musicologist Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande, AUTRIM reports, calls it a mixture of Malhar and Kanada. Its mark is the pair of Ni, natural always beside flat, in the phrase n D N S. Gaud Malhar blends Gaud and Shuddha Malhar with material from Bilawal, Parrikar and Howlett agree. Megh, or Megh Malhar, is among the oldest surviving members, Howlett writes, with five notes, S R M P n. Ramdasi Malhar is a compound raga in three or more forms, the commonest with both Ga and both Ni, Parrikar writes. Howlett also files Bahar and Kamod under the Malhar raganga.
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
Pakad (Catch Phrase)
M (M)R (M)R P
Additional Notes
Phraseologies
Notation: S R G M P D N, lowercase for a komal note, a leading dot for the lower octave and an apostrophe for the upper; a note in brackets is a grace note. Rajan Parrikar prints M (M)R (M)R P as the tonal molecule of the raganga, and a second, lesser mark of two Ni that he ties to the influence of Miyan Malhar: S, .N .n .D .N, .N S in ascent and .M .P .n .D .N S in descent. George Howlett prints the core motions as M (M)R and Ma to Re to Pa, with the rise from Re to Pa as a glide, and n D N S as the Miyan ki phrase. The AUTRIM project calls Re rising to Pa the characteristic Malhar family phrase in ascending movements. For Miyan ki Malhar AUTRIM adds that natural Ni always comes with flat Ni, that the two Ni one after the other with a touch of Dha or Sa between them are its mark, and that the descent takes S D n P and then g M R S, the closing phrase with komal Ga. Darbar writes that in n D N S' the two Ni are separated by shuddha Dha, and advises against the two side by side as n N S, though some musicians use it.
Common Phrases
Classifiers
Swara geometries, relationships, and classifications