Raga Theory: Lakshan, Aroha-Avaroha, Jati, Vadi-Samvadi and Time
Domain 3 is the written raga paper: you must define a raga and identify it from its lakshan. For the prescribed set, learn each raga's aroha, avaroha, vadi, samvadi, jati, time and one bandish; ragas such as Bilawal, Khamaj, Bhairavi and Asavari are commonly paired for comparison.
Lakshan checklist
- Aroha and avaroha, written with correct shuddha/komal/tivra marks and octave dots.
- Jati: count notes in aroha and avaroha separately - sampoorna (7), shadava (6), audava (5).
- Vadi (king) and samvadi (minister); anuvadi are the remaining notes, vivadi is used sparingly or not at all.
- Time in prahar, not clock time; thaat is a classification, not a performance raga.
Worked example
Aroha S R G m P D N S', avaroha S' N D P m G R S, all shuddha; vadi Dha, samvadi Ga; morning, second prahar. The scale is sampoorna-sampoorna, thaat Bilawal. Reasoning: all shuddha rules out Bhairavi (komal Ga, Dha, Ni), Khamaj (komal Ni) and Asavari (komal Ga, Dha, Ni); Dha vadi and morning confirm Bilawal.
Traps
- Calling Bilawal "Bilawal thaat" and then giving Khamaj's komal Ni.
- Reversing vadi and samvadi.
- Writing jati from the thaat rather than from the raga's own aroha-avaroha.
- Giving a clock time instead of a prahar.