What Is Raga Bhairavi in Hindustani Music?

Bhairavi is a raga of Bhairavi thaat. Re, Ga, Dha and Ni are komal, and Ma is shuddha. It is sampurna, which means that it uses all seven swaras. It is traditionally a morning raga. It often closes a concert.

Bhairavi the raga and Bhairavi the thaat

Bhairavi thaat is the parent scale with komal Re, Ga, Dha and Ni. With Sa on C, it reads C, D flat, E flat, F, G, A flat and B flat. This matches the Phrygian mode of Western music.

The raga Bhairavi gives the thaat its name and uses all seven of its swaras. Malkauns and Bilaskhani Todi are grouped in the same thaat. Bhairavi is a separate raga from Bhairav, which has komal Re and Dha with shuddha Ga and Ni.

How Bhairavi rises and falls

The Bhatkhande aroha (rising line) is S, R_ G_ M, P D_, N_ S'. The avaroha (falling line) uses the same swaras going down. The pakad (a short identifying phrase) M, G_, S R_ S, .D_ .N_ S falls from Ma to Sa. It drops to komal Dha and komal Ni in the lower octave before it returns to Sa.

The Bhatkhande system gives Ma as vadi (the most important swara) and Sa as samvadi (the second most important). It also records a second view. In that view komal Dha is the vadi and komal Ga is the samvadi. Songs in both styles are heard. Most of the color of the raga comes from Sa, komal Ga, Pa and komal Dha.

Bhairavi in light classical music

Khayals in Bhairavi are relatively rare. The raga is heard mostly in thumri, tappa, ghazal and bhajan. Many concerts end with a piece in Bhairavi, so it is often heard late at night despite its morning time.

In light forms, performers often add shuddha Re or other swaras outside the thaat. The Bhatkhande texts record shuddha Re in some rising phrases. They do not count it as a regular swara of the raga.

Bhairavi and Bilaskhani Todi compared

Bilaskhani Todi uses the swaras of Bhairavi thaat. It moves with the winding turns of Todi, as in S R_ G_ R_, M G_, P. Its vadi is komal Dha and its samvadi is komal Ga.

Bhairavi phrases move more directly and rest on Ma or Sa. Many musicians hold that a plain Bhairavi phrase spoils Bilaskhani Todi. The swara list cannot separate the two ragas. Only the phrasing can.

How it looks

In this Bhatkhande notation of Bhairavi, a line under a swara marks it komal. Only Sa, Ma and Pa carry no line.

This pakad falls from Ma to Sa. The dots below Dha and Ni place them in the lower octave.

In exams and courses

Bhairavi is one of eight new ragas at Gandharva Praveshika Poorna. Candidates learn its aroha, avaroha, a short alap and a madhya laya khayal or razakhani gat. The CBSE Class 11 vocal and melodic syllabi prescribe Bhairavi with Bihag and Bhimpalasi.

Practice tests on this site with questions on this term:

Practice it

Gandharva Praveshika Poorna practice test. Answer theory questions on Bhairavi and the other new ragas of Praveshika Poorna.
Tanpura. Sing the aroha and avaroha of Bhairavi over the drone and check that each komal swara sits low enough.
Hindustani raga grammar course. Study how two ragas with shared swaras are told apart by their phrasing.

Flashcard

What is bhairavi?

Related terms

Raga: A melodic framework of Indian classical music. It is defined by its notes, characteristic phrases, emphasized tones and mood.
Thaat: A parent scale of seven swaras used to classify Hindustani ragas. The Bhatkhande system uses ten thaats.
Komal: Flat, in Hindustani music: the lowered form of Re, Ga, Dha or Ni, a half step below the shuddha form. Bhatkhande notation marks it with a line below the swara.
Bhairav: A morning raga of Bhairav thaat. It uses komal Re and komal Dha with the other swaras shuddha. Its vadi is Dha and its samvadi is Re.
Malkauns: A pentatonic late-night raga of Bhairavi thaat. It uses Sa, komal Ga, Ma, komal Dha and komal Ni and leaves out Re and Pa. Its vadi is Ma and its samvadi is Sa.
Ghazal: A poetic form frequently set to music across Persianate and South Asian traditions.

Sources

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