Deep ki jyot jale...

This week we celebrate Diwali with Kumar-ji's Raag Dhan-Basanti, composed specially for this joyous festival of light…

Diwali is an occasion to celebrate – with crops harvested, bountiful Mother Nature in full bloom and worries over, at least for the yearly cycle. It has also given birth to a number of compositions in folk music that suit the mood of this merriment. Indian classical music, which evolved from folk music, is no exception to this ambiance and also boasts of a number of delightful compositions to suit it.

However, when legendary Pt Kumär Gandharva, in early 1960s, was invited to present an evening concert on the occasion of Diwali for All India Radio, he could not find a bandish that suited the festive mood of Dhan-Teras. The creativity in him motivated him to take a fresh look at an existing raag-matrix and gave birth to a new delightful raag.

Kumärji was an artist par excellence when it came to the creativity and, what we call in this era, lateral thinking. There have been numerous occasions when Kumärji’s creativity has given established norms a big jolt but, at the same time, offered immense joy to the listeners and connoisseurs, alike. He came up with a number of new raag-matrices that evolved from Mälwi (belonging to Mälwä region that’s now part of Madhya Pradesh) folk music. He also composed completely original bandishes to suit various moods envisages by the raags.

The new matrix used the scale of Raag Puriyä-Dhanäshri but presented it in the manner of Raag Basant. Both these raags use essentially the same set of notes with Shuddha Madhyam (flat fourth note) being an addition in Basant. But the treatment given to it in the latter evokes a mood of well-being, pleasantness and celebration. Kumärji also came up with a suitable self-composed lyric that suited the occasion of Diwali and ‘Deep ki jyot jale’, the composition in the new matrix named ‘Raag Dhan-Basanti’, became extremely popular. The AIR concert, for which this composition was made, also was a huge success. Kumärji later included this composition in his ‘Geet Vasant’, a novel presentation of compositions related to spring season. Here's the bandish in Kumar-ji's mellifluous voice for all connoisseurs...

They say ‘Art reflects life’! This is all the more true in case of performing arts that touch the very core of one’s heart. Kumärji’s Dhan-Basanti proves this point beyond doubt and marks him as a ‘Näyak’, elevating him on a platform distinct from others. Connoisseurs may have heard ‘Deep ki jyot jale’ earlier. But this Diwali, buy yourself a cassette or CD of Pt Kumär Gandharva’s Dhan-Basanti and soak in the joyful mood with sweets, lots of diyäs, firecrackers and lots of happiness! Here’s wishing a Very Happy Diwali to all the readers!!!

Of The Setting Sun And Orange Skies!

As Sun starts its daily journey towards western sky, we not only see the sky changing its colours, but we also experience the brilliant soundscapes afternoon raags create for your senses!

Raag Multäni, one of the ancient and expansive melodies in the Indian classical format, belongs to the Todi Thaat and is primarily sung in the late afternoon. The scale employs all seven notes but komal (minor) rishabh, gandhar and dhaivat and teevra (sharp) madhyam. The ascent and descent in the raag are typical in the sense that they provide symmetry of progression at ‘Sä’ and ‘Pa’. This is commonly known as ‘Shadaj-Pancham Bhäv’ where the progression of notes shows similarity of movement. Multäni is more popular amongst vocalists and, more so, with exponents of Kiränä and Gwalior gharänäs. However, Ustaad Ali Akbar Khan’s (sarod) recording dating back to mid-sixties also showcases a brilliant soundscape of Multäni’s mood.

What I have for you in this post is an expansive Multäni sung once again by Vijay Koparkar. He sings ‘Kavan des kavan nagariya mein', one of the electrifying bandishes popularized by late Pt. Vasantrao Deshpande. He even sang it on-stage in the landmark play ‘Katyär Käljät Ghusali’.



The popular repertoire from Hindi films, regrettably, has not seen many forays into the vast canvas offered by this raag. However, the credit again goes to legendary composer Naushad for getting Ustäd Amirkhan to sing ‘Dayä karo he giridhari’, a devotional song for the film ‘Shabäb’ in the golden era of Hindi film-music. SD Burman also composed ‘Lag gayee akhiyän’, a superb melancholy for the film ‘Jeevan-Jyoti’ sung by Mohd Rafi and Geeta Dutt.

But Marathi nätya-sangeet has come up with some remarkable numbers in Multäni. The most memorable and remarkable composition that comes to mind is ‘Prem sewä sharan’ as sung by Late Dinanath Mangeshkar. The nätyageet was originally composed in Raag Bhimpaläs but the Maestro of Mangeshi gave it a different twist and people loved it immensely. Late Pt Vasantrao Deshpande, who idolized Dinanath Mangeshkar, also rendered this composition brilliantly but in his own way. He also sang ‘Kavan des kavan nagariya mein’, an electrifying bandish in Multäni composed by Ustad Fateh Ali Khan in ‘Katyär Käljät Ghusali’, a popular musical play.

Another nätyageet in the 1970s that bore the un-mistakable stamp of Multäni came from Pt Jitendra Abhisheki, a genius who was equally proficient at hard-core classical and other lighter forms. ‘Nako visaru sanket meelanächä’ from ‘Sangeet Matsyagandhä’ is one of the most remarkable compositions from Pt Abhisheki and has been immensely popular even with the younger generation of singers. Raag Multäni, it has been felt, offers immense potential to a composer, but has been used very sparingly as far as popular music goes. But who knows, we might even get a composer who gives it a go and we experience the ambience of brilliant skies of the late afternoon, the orange ball that is the setting sun, a few wisps of cloud and the trademark pull at your heartstrings – typically Multäni!

An Amazing Family!

This is unmistakably one of the most unforgettable Lata Mangeshkar melodies from the golden era of Hindi film music. ‘Aeri mein to prem diwäni’ (Film: Naubahar, Music: Late Roshan) bears unmistakable stamp of Raag Bhimpaläs and almost fifty years since it was composed, the song still holds its position on the top of charts. Similarly, Bhimpaläs, an afternoon melody in classical repertoire belonging to Käfi Thät, also retains its popularity amongst vocalists and instrumentalists alike despite availability of other raag-matrices in this time zone.

Some musicologists hold that Bhimpaläs’s originates from Raag Dhanäshri (rarely sung in recent times), but differs from Dhanäshri in its emphasis on Shuddha Madhyam (fourth note). Right from the old maestros like Ustäd ‘Baba’ Alläuddin Khän, Ustäd Faiyäz Khän, Pt Krishnaräo S Pandit, Pt Mallikärjun Mansoor to today’s Pt Kishori Amonkar, Late Dr Vasantrao Deshpände, Pt Jitendra Abhisheki and a host of others have explored Bhimpaläs’s matrix according to individual creativity. The Abhisheki composition ‘Rang chhuye jo kesarake’ is worth mentioning here with the maestro’s creativity highlighting upper half of the Bhimpaläs This composition is available for your listening pleasure in the voice of Vijay Koparkar, Pt. Abhisheki's disciple, elsewhere on this page.

Maräthi nätyasangeet has derived a host of popular numbers from this matrix. Bäl Gandharva’s ‘Swakul tärak sutä’ (Sangeet Swayamvar) is one of the most remarkable and popular compositions in Bhimpaläs. Equally popular is ‘Prem sewä sharan’ from ‘Mänäpamän’ composed by Late Pt Govindräo Tembe in Bhimpaläs. This composition was later given a distinct ‘Multäni’ flavour by Pt Dinänäth Mangeshkar. ‘Marathi rasik’ will also forever remember ‘Amrutähuni god näm tuze devä’ sung by Late Smt Manik Varmä in her inimitable, sweet voice.

There are a couple of other melodies that are close to Bhimpaläs’s structure but with a small variation thrown in. The first that comes to mind is Raag Patdeep, identified separately from Bhimpaläs with the use of Shuddha Nishäd and its emphasis on Pancham. Patdeep has been immortalized in Hindi film-music by Late SD Burman in his composition ‘Meghä chhäye äadhi rät’ (Film: Sharmilee, Music: Late SD Burman) while Veer Säwarkar’s ‘Marma bandhätali thev’ (Sangeet Sanyasta Khadga) has been sung by a number of vocalists over the years and has truly been a treasure-trove.

Another raag-matrix that’s close to Bhimpaläs is known as Raag Dhäni. The emphasis here is on ‘Gandhar’ (third note) and the matrix uses only five notes from the octave. SD Burman once again comes up with a masterpiece in this raag with ‘Khilte hai gul yahän’ (Film: Sharmilee). But the ‘magnum opus’ in Dhani has been composed by Pt Jitendra Abhisheki. His brilliance was evident when he composed an electrifying version of ‘Ghei chhand makarand’ in ‘Katyär Kälajät Ghusali' (also available as a link under "For your listening pleasure..."). Late Jaidev also immortalized Dhäni in ‘Prabhu tero näm’ (Film: Hum Dono)।

Truly an amazing family – Raag Bhimpaläs and its siblings! Then there's Raag Madhuwanti - also from the similar time-slot, but an independent raag-matrix closer to Raag Multäni worth writing a separately on. More about it in some other episode...