Raag Bhairav

राग भैरव

Bhairav thaat Also spelled: Bhairava

The parent raga of the thaat that carries its name, sung at dawn as a sandhiprakash (twilight) raga. The oscillating komal Re and Dha give it a grave, devotional weight.

Swara map of Raag Bhairav: all seven notes, with komal Re and komal Dha and the rest shuddha; komal Dha is the vadi and komal Re the samvadi; sung at dawn; Bhairav thaat. — The two komal notes, Re and Dha, wear the crown and the star.

Thaat (parent scale): Bhairav
Jati (type): Sampurna – Sampurna · 7 notes up, 7 down
Vadi (king note): Komal Dha (Dhaivat)
Samvadi (minister note): Komal Re (Rishabh)
Time of singing: Dawn (a sandhiprakash, or twilight, raga)

Scale and structure

Key rule: Komal Re and komal Dha, each sung with a slow oscillation (andolan). Every other note is natural.

Aaroha (ascent)

सा रे॒ ग म प ध॒ नि सां

Avaroha (descent)

सां नि ध॒ प म ग रे॒ सा

Pakad (catch phrase)

सा ग म प ध॒ ध॒ प, ग म रे॒ रे॒ सा

Sargam is given in Devanagari, as it is written in practice — a line beneath a note marks it komal (flat), and (मंद्र) marks the lower octave.

Examined at

Level 3 Praveshika Second Year Level 5 Madhyama Second Year

Learning this with a teacher

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