Raag Knowledge, Raag-Parichay and Classification
What this domain tests
This domain tests raag-parichay: the standard descriptive fields of a raag and the classification systems used to group raags. Expect questions on thaat, aroh/avroh, pakad, vadi/samvadi, jati, time, and the 31 SGGS raags.
Core concepts
- Raag-parichay includes thaat, aroh, avroh, pakad, vadi, samvadi, jati (audav, shadav, sampoorna), time of day, ras, and similar raags.
- Bhatkhande's 10 thaats group raags by scale: Bilaval, Khamaaj, Kafi, Asavari, Bhairavi, Bhairav, Kalyan, Marwa, Poorvi, Todi.
- Thaat is a scale category; raag is a melodic entity with idioms, strong notes and characteristic phrases. A thaat does not fix a raag's pakad.
- Raagang classification groups raags by shared phrase families, useful for spotting near-neighbours.
- The SGGS uses 31 raag headings, from Sri Raag to Jaijavanti; these are the primary raag framework for Gurbani kirtan.
Worked example
Identify Raag Bilaval from its parichay. Bilaval uses all shuddh swars and is sampoorna: aroh S R G M P D N S'; avroh S' N D P M G R S. Its vadi is Dha and samvadi Ga; the pakad includes phrases such as G R G P and D N S'. Because many thaats share an all-shuddh scale, the pakad and vadi, not the scale alone, confirm Bilaval. This reasoning prevents confusing Bilaval with other sampoorna raags.
Traps
Do not define a raag by aroh/avroh alone. Do not call thaat a raag. Do not ignore komal Re, Ga, Dha, Ni or teevra Ma. Do not assign a time to a raag without checking its parichay. Do not confuse the 31 SGGS raags with the 10 thaats.