Raga Malkauns, also known as Raga Hindolam in parts of India, is a very popular Raga, usually sung in the late evening or night. Raga Panchamkauns as the name suggests, uses the note Pancham (Pa) in Malkauns. Sometimes, subtly using a note changes the entire character and feeling of a Raga, so much so that it feels like a completely different Raga. Panchamkauns also brings in changes to the melodic phrases of Malkauns, incorporating the Pancham without the note sounding dissonant.

Here I present the Raga as a derivative of Natabhairavi, belonging to the Kaushiki family of Ragas. This is a recording of a live performance held at Siddhivinayak Temple, Dandia Bazaar, Vadodara.

Program Notes

Raga Alapana in Panchamkauns

Raga Alapana is an improvisation and a systematic presentation of a Raga. This part has no rhythmic accompaniment. It has three parts - Alap, Jod and Jhala. This format is also known as Ragam and Tanam.

Pallavi (composition) in Panchamkauns set to Chautala

Pallavi is a melodic phrase or lyrics set to a fixed set of beats in a rhythmic cycle. The improvisation here is creating interesting rhythm based melodic patterns while maintaining the framework of the Raga. This part of the performance is accompanied by Pakhawaj.

About the Raga

Raga - Panchamkauns

Scale - Sa ga ma Pa dha ni

Family - Varja Raga of Kaushiki (Sa Re ga ma Pa dha ni)

Melakarta - Varja Raga of Natabhairavi (Sa Re ga ma Pa dha ni)

Prahar - 6th Prahar (equivalent to 9 PM - 12 AM)

Reading the scale

In Indian Classical Music, the seven notes in an octave are called Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni and then Sa comes again. Notes with a capitalised first letter are called Tivra (or sharp) notes. Notes written fully in lower case are called Komal (or flat) notes. E.g., ma and ni above. All notes used in this Raga are Komal (or flat) notes. Sa and Pa are always written with a capitalised first letter.

Varja Raga - A Janya (derivative) Raga of a Melakarta (parent scale) in which a note is dropped from the parent Melakarta notes. In this Raga, Rishabh has been dropped from the parent scale to get Panchamkauns.

Prahar

In Indian Classical Music, Ragas are classified into Prahars (time periods of a day or night) which are said to represent the most appropriate time to perform the Raga.

About the Tala

Chautala has 12 beats split as 4 + 4 + 2 + 2 denoted by solfas or syllables representing various rhythmic patterns. The basic solfas of Chautala are given below.

Tala - Chautala

Beats - 12 (4+4+2+2)

Solfas - Dha Dha Dhin Ta | ThiTa Dha Dhin Ta | ThiTa KatTa | GaDhi GaNa |

Credits

Artists

Chandraveena - S Balachander

Pakhawaj - Dhaval Mistry

Production

Sadharani Music Works - https://www.sadharani.com

Release Links

Please note that since this performance was held in a place of worship, a video recording is not available. However, we are uploading the full audio file to YouTube, with information labels for your enjoyment.

The full video recording of the Raga Alapana is available at https://youtu.be/rl9k14yEJjk.

The full video recording of the Pallavi is available at https://youtu.be/j8lSjfzCcGE.

Snippets from this performance are available at https://youtu.be/c7O7weNTDZs.

Purchase CD quality audio of the performance from https://chandraveena.bandcamp.com/album/live-at-vadodara.