Raga Knowledge and Classification
This domain tests whether you can place a raga inside Bhatkhande's thata scheme, name its vadi and samvadi, declare its jati and time, and separate a parent scale from a living raga.
Thata versus raga
Bhatkhande grouped Hindustani scales into ten thatas: Bilaval, Khamaj, Kafi, Asavari, Bhairavi, Bhairav, Kalyan, Marwa, Poorvi and Todi. A thata is only a seven-note scale. A raga has aroha, avaroha, pakad, vadi, samvadi and a prescribed time, and it may omit notes entirely.
Jati
Audav (5), shadav (6) and sampoorna (7) combine into nine jatis, for example audav-sampoorna for a raga ascending with five notes and descending with seven.
Notes of gravity
Vadi (amsa) is the principal note; samvadi is second in importance, usually a fourth or fifth away from the vadi; anuvadi are assonant; vivadi are touched only in passing, generally in descent. Ragas may be purvangavadi (Sa to Pa strong) or uttarangavadi (Pa to upper Sa strong).
Types and time
Shuddha ragas stay within one thata; chhayalag ragas borrow phrases from another; sankirna ragas mix two. Time follows eight prahars, with sandhi-prakash ragas placed at sunrise and sunset.
Worked example
Yaman: teevra Ma points to Kalyan thata. All seven notes appear in both directions, so the jati is sampoorna-sampoorna. Vadi is Ga, samvadi Ni, and the pakad hangs on Ni-Re-Ga and Ga-Ma^-Dha-Ni. It belongs to the first prahar of night. Reasoning order: altered note, then jati, then the note of rest, then the prahar.
Traps
Writing that the thata of Yaman is Yaman; swapping vadi and samvadi; calling Bhupali sampoorna when it is audav-audav; placing Yaman in the morning; forgetting Bhairav's komal Re and komal Dha.