(S-R-G-m-P-D-nN-S)
Strictly speaking, Deepak is a ‘lost raga’, known to us through its status as Tansen’s fabled fire-bringing melody – said to have sparked uncontrollable blazes when he sung it at Emperor Akbar’s 16th-century royal palace (…and requiring a rendition of Megh to extinguish it). But, while its original swaras may have been lost to the winds of time, many have sought to reignite the spirits of these ancient tales – with three disparate Deepak varieties having developed in recent generations: Bilawal-ang, Poorvi-ang, and Khamaj-ang (although, given the reimaginative nature of such endeavours, interpretations can vary wildly even within these categories). Tantalisingly, while the Deepak of Tansen’s era is hardly likely to have just ‘disappeared’, we will never really know which modern ragas may have inherited its essences. Also see Kedar: another fire-summoning form, traditionally classified as a ragini of Deepak.
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राग दीपक
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—Ghulam Mustafa Khan (2002)—
[Poorvi-ang bandish, e.g. 1:56] PdP, S/rS, (P)GPG, (G)r, S, P (P)SS, SS rr, S, G r S, r S; P(d)P, (P)GPG, (G)r, S…
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• Ragmalas •
Historic miniature paintings (learn more)
“Dipak Raga riding an elephant, with four female attendants (an illustration of Diwali)…” (Penn, c.1800)
“Dipak Raga, from a folio attributed to Jai Kisan” (Malpura, c.1756) / “Raga Dipak, opaque watercolor on paper” (Jaipur, c.1760)
• Classifiers •
Explore hidden inter-raga connections: swara geometries, melodic features, murchana sets, ragangas, & more (also see the Full Tag List):
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.
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: (uncodified)
–Swara Geometries–
(if assuming the Bilawal-ang form)
• Core form: S-R-G-m-P-D-nN-S
• Reverse: SrRgmPdnS (=Gandhari)
• Negative: 5-2-3-2
• Imperfect: 1 (Ni)
• Detached: none
• Symmetries: mirror (Gm—nN)
• Murchanas: Bihag set
–Global Translations–
• Carnatic: (~Begada)
S-R2-G3-M1-P-D2-N2-N3-S
• Jazz: Bebop Dominant
1-2-3-4-5-6-b7-7-8
• Pitch classes (‘fret-jumps’):
0-2-4-5-7-9-10-11-0
(2–2–1–2–2–1–1–1)
o • o • o o • o • o o o o
• Tanpura: (Sa–Pa)
• Names: Deepak, Dipak, Dipaka (not ‘Deepaki‘)
• Transliterations: Hindi (दीपक)
—Shujaat Khan (~2000s)—
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George Howlett is a London-based musician, writer, and teacher (guitars, sitar, tabla, & santoor). Above all I seek to enthuse fellow sonic searchers, interconnecting fresh vibrations with the voices, cultures, and passions behind them. See Homepage for more, and hit me up for Lessons!
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