Raga Hindol is an extremely melodious morning raga. Music therapists swear by it for its healing powers. Though it is an accepted theory that a raga must have five notes, traditionally there exist ragas of three swaras (raga Malashri) and four swaras (raga Bhavani). But these have not seen the light of the day. One such exception is raga Hindol – a raga of four swaras:
Ascent: Sa Ga Ma Dha Sa
Descent: Sa Dha Ma Ga Sa
The Ga, Ma, Dha, are teevra (sharp) swaras & the vadi & samvadi swaras are Dha & Ga respectively.
The raga emerges from Kalyan thaat. It is an ancient raga associated with the spring season.
It has only five notes in the arohana, and five notes in the avarohana. Re and Pa are excluded completely. The only Teevra note used is Ma (henceforth represented by Ma#). All other swaras are shuddha.
Arohana: Sa Ga Ma# Dha Ni Dha Sa.
Avarohana: Sa Ni Dha Ma# Ga Sa.
Pakad: Sa Ga Ma# Dha Ni Dha Ma# Ga Sa.
The vadi swara is Dha, and the samvadi is Ga.
Jati: Audhva- Audhav
The raga is to be sung or played on an instrument such as veena, sitar, sehnai, flute etc during the first part of the day.
The raga has Teevra Madhyam at its heart, and revolves around that note, resting on Dha or Ga. A prominent movement in Hindol is the gamak, heavy and forceful oscillations particularly using Ma# and Dha. Its structure and phrasing is the imitation of a swing, hence the name Hindol (Hindola means swing). The Ni in the avarohana is very weak, and in most compositions it is used obliquely or often entirely avoided. Mostly pure classical genre of music like Khayals or Dhamars are composed in this raga.
The Raga Hem Hindol is a special creation of Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, and this presentation by Nikhil Da has a captivating appeal.
Some of the scenic fall images in New England, have been taken by Sharad Bhatia
