The 10 Thaats (Raag Taxonomy)
Pandit Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande was a great scholar of music in the early 20th century. He is probably the first to document the Raags of Hindustani Classical music in a systematic form. Out of the many books, he produced two very important treatises on modern Indian classical music. "Hindustani Sangeet Paddhati" (4-Volumes, It has explanation of 100+ Raags and related theory) and "Kramik Pustak Malika" (6-Volumes, It has a brief explanation of Raags followed by detailed notations of songs based on a particular Raag. It will easily have 1000+ songs).
Pandit ji devised a system of ten "Thaats" to classify the raags under it. They are:
- Bilawal: S R G m P D N S. Examples of raags in this group: Ahilya Bilawal, Deshkar etc.
- Kafi: S R g m P D n S. Examples of raags in this group: Dhanashree, Bheempalasi etc.
- Bhairavi: S r g m P d n S. Examples of raags in this group: Malkauns, Kausi Kanada etc.
- Kalyan: S R G M P D N S. Examples of raags in this group: Yaman, Bhupali, Kedar etc.
- Khamaj: S R G m P D n S. Examples of raags in this group: Rageshree, Tilak Kamod etc.
- Asavari: S R g m P d n S. Examples of raags in this group: Darbari, Jaunpuri etc.
- Bhairav: S r G m P d N S. Examples of raags in this group: Ramkali, Jogiya etc.
- Marva: S r G M P D N S. Examples of raags in this group: Marwa, Bhatiyaar etc.
- Purvi: S r G M P d N S. Examples of raags in this group: Shree, Puriya Dhanashree etc.
- Todi: S r g M P d N S. Examples of raags in this group: Madhuwanti, Miyan ki Todi etc.
[R, G, m, D, N = shudha swars, M = Teevra madhyam, r, g, d, n = Komal swars]
There are certain rules that have to be fulfilled while defining a thaat. We will not go into those. However, it is important to note that he theorised that all the raags can be said to be "born out of" these ten thaats. Some musicologists do differ with this theory, but the essence is that this system provides a good method of classification of the raags. It is also true that is widely accepted and the de-facto standard in the modern times. When a raag is defined, it is almost mandatory to define the thaat that it belongs to.
It is important to note the following points. A thaat is not to be sung independently. It is a set of notes that can be used to create permutations to create raags under it. Also most of the thaats have a raag with the same name. For example Bilaawal thaat has a raag with the name "Bilaawal", Kalyan has a raag by the name "Kalyaan", Marwa has one too and so on. This sometimes leads to confusion among starters.
Sampooran, Shaudav & Audav (Jaati of a Raag)
One will often hear about Raags in terms of combination of above terms. Like, Asawari belongs to Audav / Sampooran jaati. The basic concept behind this is the fact that all raags will have atleast 5 notes in its Aaroh and Avroh. So when there are 5 notes in an Aaroh or Avroh it is called "Audav". With six notes it is called "Shaudav". With 7 notes it is called "Sampooran". So Asawari has 5 notes in Aaroh (S R M P d) and 7 notes (n d P M g R S) in Avroh. Note the jaati does not tell us which notes, it tells us the count of notes only.
Raag "Ras" Emotion of a Raag
Probably this aspect gives the most distinguishable aspect to a Raag. Each raag is supposed to elucidate some emotion when rendered. As per theory, the notes playable in the raag are the key to bringing out this emotion. Theory defines the following "Ras":
- Shringaar
- Veer
- Hassya
- Karuna
- Roudra
- Bhayanak
- Bibastha
- Adbhut
- Navras
Time of a Raag
There is a time theory for raags. Based on the Vaadi and the Samvaadi notes in a Raag, a Raag has a specific time of the day when it can be performed. For instance some early morning raags are Bhairavi, Raamkali etc. Late evening raags include Kedar, Desh, Durga etc. I have read and heard interviews of contemporary masters of Indian Classical Music holding different views on this aspect of Raag. Some are very rigid even going to the extent of not singing raags during concerts that do not agree with the time theory of the raag. Some are flexible saying that the theory is not so significant in modern times of performance.
That is all for today. In the next article, I will describe the concepts of "Purvaang" and "Uttaraang", "Raagaang" and "Swar Vistaar". These are important concepts we need to understand, before we take one raag as an example and study it in great detail.
