Prescribed Ragas: Aroha, Avaroha, Pakad, Vadi–Samvadi and Time of Rendition
The prescribed-ragas domain tests whether you can present a raga as a complete entity: its ascending and descending paths, its identifying phrase, its dominant notes and its assigned hour. Examiners rarely ask one item alone - a typical question is 'Give aroha, avaroha, pakad, vadi-samvadi and time of Yaman.'
Aroha, avaroha, pakad
- Aroha is the ascent, avaroha the descent; both must carry komal/tivra markings.
- Vakra ragas do not reverse symmetrically. Bhimpalasi ascends n S g M P n S' without Re and Dha, but its avaroha uses D and R.
- Pakad is a short, memorable phrase, usually built around vadi and samvadi; it identifies the raga even when the full scale is ambiguous.
Vadi, samvadi and time
- Vadi = the most dwelled-upon note; samvadi = second in importance, generally a fourth or fifth from the vadi.
- The day is divided into eight prahars of about three hours. Yaman: first night prahar. Bhairav: first day prahar. Bhimpalasi: third day prahar. Malkauns and Darbari Kanada: third night prahar.
Worked example - Yaman Aroha S R G M^ P D N S'; avaroha S' N D P M^ G R S; pakad N R G M^ P, M^ G R S; vadi Ga, samvadi Ni; time first prahar of night; thaat Kalyan. Reasoning: the leap Ni–Re with tivra Ma can only belong to the Kalyan family; komal Re would point to Bhairav, and shuddha Ma to Bilawal. Naming vadi as Ga (not Ni) and giving a prahar, not just 'night', earns full marks.
Traps: writing shuddha Ma in Yaman; reversing vadi and samvadi; giving time as 'evening' with no prahar; forgetting Ni in the avaroha; using Carnatic names such as Kalyani in a Hindustani answer.