Ahir Bhairav

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Ahir Bhairav
Thaat Bhairav
Time of dayFirst prahara
Arohana S Ṟ G M P D Ṉ Ṡ
Avarohana Ṡ Ṉ D P M G Ṟ S
Vadi dha
Samavadi Re

Ahir Bhairav is a Hindustani classical raga . It is a mixture of Bhairav and the ancient, rare raga Ahiri or Abhiri, [1] or perhaps a mixture of Bhairav and Bageshree.

Contents

Theory

Arohana and avarohana

Arohana: S Ṟ G M P D Ṉ Ṡ [a]

Avarohana: Ṡ Ṉ D P M G Ṟ S [b]

Key:

S, G, M, P, D: shuddha (natural);

r, n : komal (flat);

Pa and Sa are sometimes avoided in ascending Arohan. The descent can be direct, but is often expressed as S' N d P m, G m Gr ~ S with a slight oscillation on komal re to express the character of Bhairav. [1]

Vadi and samavadi

Vadi: M

Samavadi: S

Pakad or Chalan

S, r G M, G M r, ṇ Ḍ, ṇ r S

| komal Ni, shuddha Dha, komal Ni, komal Re, Sa | is the most characteristic run, where the Ni and Dha belong to the lower octave and the Re and Sa are from the middle octave. Some andolan/oscillation is typically at the flattened second (komal re).

Organization and relationships

It may include impressions of Kafi. The image of Ahir Bhairav is easily maintained with the characteristic passage ṇ Ḍ ṇ/r~ S [1] with the characteristic Bhairav andolan (oscillation) on komal re. Sometimes shuddha ni is used in the lower octave to emphasize the Bhairav character. [2]

The Carnatic music equivalent to this raga is Chakravakam.

Related ragas:

Thaat: Bhairav

Behaviour

Ahir Bhairav is a typical uttarang raga, which means emphasis is on the upper tetrachord.

Performance

It is usually sung as the first Prahr of the morning, around 6:00 am – 9:00 am.

Recordings and compositions

Ravi Shankar, Three Classical Ragas. His Master's Voice LP, 1957. and Angel Records CD, 2000.

Hariprasad Chaurasia, Raga Ahir Bhairav and Marriage Song from Uttar Pradesh. Nimbus Records CD, 1987.

Nikhil Banerjee, Raga Ahir Bhairav. Multitone Records, UK Limited, 1995. LP. (Available on iTunes.)

Wasif-ud-din Dagar, Chalo sakhi braj raje. Alap and Composition in Dhamar. Music Today. A97015. Cassette. [3]

Traditional compositions in Raag Ahir Bhairav are:

Film songs

Language: Hindi

SongMovieComposerArtists
Man Aanand Aanand Chhaayo Vijeta Ajit Varman Ajit Varman, Asha Bhosle, and Satyasheel Deshpande
Meri Veena Tum Bin Roye Dekh Kabira Roya Madan Mohan Lata Mangeshkar
Poochho Na Kaise Maine Rain Bitaayi Meri Surat Teri Ankhen S.D. Burman Shiv Dayal Batish, Manna Dey
Waqt Karataa Jo Wafaa Aap Hamaare Hote Dil Ne Pukara 1967 Kalyanji-Anandji Mukesh
Ram Teri Ganga Maili Ho Gayee (Title Track) Ram Teri Ganga Maili Ravindra Jain Suresh Wadkar, Chorus
Ab Tere Bin Aashiqui Nadeem-Shravan Kumar Sanu
Solah Baras Ki Ek Duje Ke Liye Laxmikant-Pyarelal Lata Mangeshkar, Anup Jalota
Albela Sajan Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam Ismail Darbar Ustad Sultan Khan, Shankar Mahadevan
Albela Sajan Bajirao Mastani Sanjay Leela Bhansali Shashi Suman, Kunal Pandit, Prithvi Gandharva, Kanika Joshi, Rashi Raagga, Geetikka Manjrekar
Aur Ho Rockstar A.R. Rehman Mohit Chauhan, Alma Ferovic

Language: Tamil

SongMovieComposerArtists
Ullathil Nalla Ullam Karnan Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy Sirkazhi Govindarajan
Vanithamani Vikram Ilaiyaraaja S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, S. Janaki, Kamal Haasan
Vaanile Thenila Kaakki Sattai Ilaiyaraaja S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, S. Janaki
Chalakku Chalakku Chembaruthi Ilaiyaraaja Mano, S. Janaki
Nee Pathi Naan Pathi Keladi Kanmani Ilaiyaraaja K. J. Yesudas, Uma Ramanan
Poonkatrae Friends Ilaiyaraaja Hariharan
Vidu Kathaiya Muthu A. R. Rahman Hariharan
Eechambazham Pavithra A. R. Rahman Shahul Hameed, K.S. Chitra
Vaa Vaa En Veenaiyae Sattam Gangai Amaran S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Vani Jairam
Megangal Ennai Thottu Amarkalam Bharadwaj S. P. Balasubrahmanyam

Carnatic music

Chakravakam, the 16th Melakarta raga of Carnatic music, which is a sampurna scale (all seven notes in ascending and descending scale), closely resembles Ahir Bhairav. [4] However, in the modern times Ahir Bhairav raga has been used in a few Carnatic music compositions and many South Indian film songs as well.

Notes

  1. ↑ Alternate notations:
    • Carnatic: S R₁ G₃ M₁ P D₂ N₂ Ṡ
    • Western: C D♭ E F G A B♭ C
  2. ↑ Alternate notations:
    • Carnatic: Ṡ N₂ D₂ P M₁ G₃ R₁ S
    • Western: C B♭ A G F E D♭ C

References

  1. 1 2 3 Bor 1999
  2. ↑ Kaufmann 1968, p.251
  3. ↑ Bagchee 1998
  4. ↑ Raganidhi by P. Subba Rao, Pub. 1964, The Music Academy of Madras

Sources

(most) entries due to:

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