S-r-m-P-n-S

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A pentatonic form inducted into the ragascape by an early-career Ravi Shankar (as recounted in Oliver Craske’s superlative biography Indian Sun, p.106: “Shankar created Bairagi in 1949, [publishing] the raga, and a bandish in it, in Sangeet Magazine”). The ‘Megh komal re‘ swara set – which may well have appeared in other guises throughout history – concisely scatters intervals of 1, 2, 3, and 4 semitones into a curious geometric shuffle, matching the Re-murchana of Shivranjani. Melodic motions tend to draw much of their character from the Bhairav–ang (particuarly sustained oscillations on komal re), with komal ni also assuming prominence (e.g. the Shahid Parvez take below). Generally favoured by instrumentalists, although audav specialist Amir Khan‘s vocal renditions are ever-sublime. The nSr grouping seems reminiscent of Vedic chant refrains (in Anoushka Shankar’s words, “Bairagi has this deep, spiritual, internal quality”), while the overall swara-set resembles the Carnatic Revathi – and also the ‘Insen Scale’ of Japanese court music (as highlighted in Aishik Bandyopadhyay’s Comparative Study of Indian Ragas and Japanese Scales). Also see Shankar’s subsequent Bairagi Todi – as well as his Parameshwari, Gangeshwari, Kameshwari, Rangeshwari, Jogeshwari, Mohankauns, Ahir Lalit, & Pancham se Gara.

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—Shahid Parvez Khan (2021)—

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[refrain, e.g. 5:01] P/n\P, n S r, r/m g/m, (m)rS, P/n\P, n(Sn) S r…

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• Classifiers •

Explore hidden inter-raga connections: swara geometries, melodic features, murchana sets, ragangas, & more (also see the Full Tag List):

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Swaras: -4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10+

Sapta: Audav | Shadav | Sampurna

Poorvang: SRGM | SRG | SRM | SGM

Uttarang: PDNS | PDS | PNS | DNS

Varjit: Re | Ga | Ma | Pa | Dha | Ni

Double: rR | gG | mM | dD | nN

Thaat: 10 | 32 | Enclosed | Inexact

Chal: All-shuddha | All-komal | Ma-tivra

Gaps: Anh. | Hemi. | 3-row | 4-row | 5-row

Symmetries: Mirror | Rotation | Palindr.

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Aroha: Audav | Shadav | Sampurna

Avroh: Audav | Shadav | Sampurna

Jati: Equal | Balanced | Av.+1 | Av.+2

Samay: Morning | Aftern. | Eve. | Night

Murchana: Bhup. | Bihag | Bilaw. | Charu.

Raganga: Bhairav | Malhar | Kan. | Todi

Construction: Jod | Mishra | Oddball

Origin: Ancient | Carnatic | Modern

Dominance: Poorvang | Uttarang

Prevalence: A-list | Prachalit | Aprach.

• Prakriti: (none found)

–Swara Geometries–

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• Core form: S–r–m–P–n–S

• Reverse: SRmPNS

• Negative: 3-1-1-2-2-1-2 (e.g. Jogeshwari Panch.)

• Imperfect: 2 (re, Pa)

• Detached: 1 (re)

• Symmetries: none

• Murchanas: Shivranjani set

–Global Translations–

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• Carnatic: ~Revathi

S-R₁-M₁-P-N₂-S

• Jazz: Phrygian Dominant (no 3rd/6th)

1-b2-4-5-b7-8

• Pitch classes (‘fret-jumps’):

0-1-5-7-10-0

(1–4–2–3–2)

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o o • • • o • o • • o • o

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• Tanpura: Sa–Pa (+ni)

• Names: Bairagi, Bairaga, Bairgi Bhairav, Bairagi Bhairon, (~Kshanika)

• Transliterations: Hindi (बैरागी); Bengali (বৈরটী)

—Rashid Khan (1997)—