difference between rAgA and rAgini

Ideas and innovations in Indian classical music
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Mahalakshmi
Posts: 145
Joined: 20 Feb 2008, 17:28

Post by Mahalakshmi »

Please anyone state the difference between the terms rAgA and rAgini? Which system uses the

word rAgini, carnatic or hindustani?

Thank you

Mahalakshmi

vasanthakokilam
Posts: 10956
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 00:01

Post by vasanthakokilam »

If at all anyone uses it to any degree, it will be Hindusthani.

ajaysimha
Posts: 831
Joined: 19 Apr 2018, 18:16

Re: difference between rAgA and rAgini

Post by ajaysimha »

i got this from sanskrit dictionary,
राग m. rAga tune
रागिणी f. rAgiNI modification of the musical mode called rAga

<<does this relate the janaka - janya ragas >>

in carnatic music, we have the stree raga and purusha raga
used to tell the nature/lakshana of raga based on the swaras used to sancharas involved to bhava evoked by the raga.

are rAgA - rAgini and stree - purusha ragas relate-able ?

can any one shed light on this ... ?

Ananthakrishna
Posts: 130
Joined: 01 Nov 2019, 17:38

Re: difference between rAgA and rAgini

Post by Ananthakrishna »

The raaga-raagini system of raga classification occurred between the 16th and 19th Centuries and preceded the modern classification of ragas, as it exists today.

It is comparable to the stree-purusha classification, but is slightly different, The stree purusha raaga classification deals with the nature of the raagam, its delicacy and differentiating traits, and then assigns a raagam its gender, to (presumably) better understand the method by which a raagam must be delineated. The raaga-raagini system takes this concept further, creating families of raagams.

Hindustani music relies more heavily on the raaga-raagini system. Carnatic music merely acknowledges the existence of this theory.

There are 6 principal male raagas, namely Bhairav, Malkauns, Hindol, Deepak, Shri and Megh ragas.

These raagas have five wives or raaginis each and these raga-raagini ‘couples’ also have 8 children or raaga putras each. This gives us a total of 84 ragas. An example is given below with the Raag Bhairav (HM counterpart to Malavagowla)

Raag Bhairav is known to be the first raga, that emanated from Siva himself. A simple and common raga, this is seldom heard in concerts today, as it is deemed as a morning raga.
Raaginis – Bhairavi, Punyaki, Bilawali, Aslekhi, Bangli
Putra raagas – Harakh, Pancham, Disakh, Bangal, Madhu, Madhava, Lalit, Bilawal

Please note that the names mentioned correspond to Hindustani Raag names.

There is no unanimity among the different schools of Hindustani music regarding what the main raagas are and who their respective raaginis are either. There is another school of thought that names six other ragas as the main raagas. According to them, the six major raagas are Kanada, Vasanta, Mallara, Vibhashaka, Gandhara and Dipaka. According to this school, Kanada’s raginis are Mayuri, Todi, Gaudi, Varati, Vilolika and Dhanasri. This is why many musicologists have argued that this system is imaginative, and not very scientific.

In the ancient, common music of India before the 13th century, this system was prevalent. This ancient raaga-raagini system too had six main ragas, each with 5 wives or raginis. Each of these raga-raginis had 8 sons or putras and 8 daughters-in-law or vadhus. So then the ragas totaled to 132. In some cases, daasa and daasi (male and female servant) ragas and dhoota and dhooti ragas too existed, and were given certain specific characteristics.

The only vestige of this archaic system that is perhaps used occasionally is in treatises where they describe the raagam and its characteristics with the help of a vivid poetic portrayal of its bhavam, in which those emotions are projected onto a personified form of the ragam that is a raaga or raagini, as the case may be. It is also seen in paintings, where the raagam is depicted in a manner that conveys its bhavam and characteristics, again via the image of the raagam as a raaga or raagini.

This is paid mere lip service in CM today, but is respected and used to a greater extent in HM, since the Arab Islamic Invaders presumably liked this romanticized way of approaching music and propagated it, and so this system remains an important aspect of HM

The raaga-raagini classification, though not practically viable in today’s music scenario, is very useful from a historical, academic and artistic point of view. Knowing more about the raaga-raagini classifications could enhance our own knowledge of the subject of music. I hope more rasikas contribute to this topic.

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