Gaud Malhar is a raga in Hindustani classical music that combines characteristics of Malhar and the now extinct raga named Gaud.
Theory In Hindustani classical music, Gaud Malhar is classified under the Bilaval thaat or parent scale.Sangit Mahabharati (comp.), The Oxford Encyclopaedia of the Music of India (2011), entry "Gaud Malhār Rāga (Kar)" Musicological sources describe it as a raga that probably combines features of the Malhar group with those of Gaud, an independent raga that has since become obsolete. Both Malhar and Gaud are historically associated with the rainy season.
Gaud Malhar should be distinguished from the Karnatik raga of the same name as it differs from the Hindustani raga. The Karnatik Gaud Malhar is classified under the 29th mela, Dheera Shankarabharanam (Sankarabharanam), and belongs to the Audava-Sampurna category.
Arohana and avaroha Gaud Malhar does not have a single rigid scale that fully represents its melodic identity. The general ascending (arohana) and descent (avaroha) is:
Arohana (ascent): S R G M R P, M P D N S' Avaroha (descent): S' D n P M G M R S The raga uses both forms of Ni. Shuddh Ni (major note) occurs in the ascending movement leading to the upper Sa, while komal Ni (flat note) occurs in descending movements, particularly in the characteristic movement D-n\P.
The unrelated Karnatik Gaud Malhar has a different structure. Its arohana and avaroha are:
Arohana: S R₂ M₁ P D₂ S Avaroha: S' N₃ D₂ P M₁ G₃ R₂ S In the Karnatik system, the ascent is audava, using five notes, while the descent is sampurna, using all seven notes.
Vadi and samavadi The principal note (vadi) of raga Gaud Malhar is Ma, and its secondary note (samvadi) is Sa.Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande, edited by Laxminarayan Garg, Bhatkhande Sangeet Shastra: Hindustani Sangeet Paddhati, Bhag 4 (1957) However, historical musicological consensus is divided; some performance lineages and theoretical compilations designate Pa as the principal note, with Sa remaining the consonant partner, while others formalize the primary structural prominence of Ma by classifying the melody as a Ma-dominant raga.
Vadi (principal): M Samvadi (secondary): S The melodic behavior and treatment of notes in Gaud Malhar reflect its compound structure (jod-raga), which bifurcates into distinct structural components:
Gaud-ang: Defined by the descending movement R–G–R–M–G–R–S, representing the musical footprint of the obsolete raga Gaud. Malhar-ang: Defined by the ascending phrase M–R–P, which structurally anchors the raga to the Malhar family.
Pakad The melodic identity of Hindustani Gaud Malhar is expressed through characteristic movements rather than through a fixed scalar sequence. Two movements are characteristic of the wider Malhar group:
M R / P — a movement from Ma to Re followed by a movement to Pa. D - n\P — a movement from Dha through komal Ni (flat Ni) to Pa. These movements are not unique to Gaud Malhar, but to the overall family of Malhar ragas.
Another important movement in Gaud Malhar is the descending glide M\G, from Ma to Ga. It is particularly associated with the Ga-emphasized variety of the raga.
Performance behavior and varieties Musicologists document two principal performative varieties of Gaud Malhar, defined by subtle note emphasis and direction:
Madhyama (Ma)-emphasized: Establishes Ma as the pivotal note of melodic phrasing. Gandhara (Ga)-emphasized: Shifts the structural focus to Ga, highlighted through a characteristic descending glide from Ma to Ga (notated as M\G). Historical performance practice also distinguishes between two lineages of Ga usage. The first utilizes a stable, bright natural third (shuddha Ga), which is favored in fast-tempo (drut) compositions by contemporary khyal vocalists. The second incorporates flat third (komal Ga) within the descending phrase komal Ni–Pa and a final resolution of Ga–Ma–Ri–Sa which is a performative treatment traditionally associated with older dhrupad styles.
Samay Gaud Malhar is seasonally restricted and is performed at any time of the day or night during the monsoon (rainy season).
Rasa The aesthetic mood (rasa) of Gaud Malhar is described by contemporary performers as serious, thoughtful, and deeply evocative of monsoon imagery. In traditional Indian painting, the raga is linked to romantic longing and seasonal separation. Historic ragamala paintings depict Gaud Malhar as an anxious woman (virahini) who has prepared a bed of fresh flowers for her lover and stands looking out into the rainy night, sending a female messenger to check the path for his arrival.
Historical information
Early references The earliest known reference to a raga resembling Gaud Malhar appears in the Hrdaya-kautuka and Hrdaya-prakasa, Sanskrit treatises attributed to Hrdaya Narayana Deva of Garha-desa and dating to the mid-17th century.Narayana Deva, Hrdaya. Hrudaya Kautuka & Hrudaya Prakasa of Narayna Deva. Edited by Pandit Dattatreya Keshav Joshi. Bombay Sanskrit Series. Bombay: Bhalchandra Sitaram Sukthankar, 1918. The raga is called Gondamalhara. In the Hrdaya-kautuka, it is classified under Megha, a parent group associated with monsoon ragas,Gangoly, O. C. Ragas & Raginis: A Pictorial & Iconographic Study of Indian Musical Modes Based on Original Sources. Vol. 2, Nalanda Publications, 1948. and is explicitly described as six-note (shadava). The text gives a characteristic sequence of notes but omits Nishada (Ni). It does not identify an author, composer, or origin for the raga, nor does it explicitly connect the name with the separate raga families Gaud and Malhar.
A related name appears in the late 18th-century South Indian tradition. Tulaji's Sangita-Saramrtoddhara lists Gouda-mallara (Gauda-mallara) as a derivative melody under the Sankarabharanam parent scale. The work does not provide a description of its notes or melodic phrases, and it does not state that this raga was historically connected with the earlier Gondamalhara. The similarity of the names therefore does not by itself establish continuity.
Description in the Radha Govind Sangit Sar A detailed description of the raga appears in Radha Govind Sangit Sar, which was compiled under the oversight of Sawai Pratap Singh of Jaipur between 1779 and 1804.Pratap Singh, Maharaja Sawai (1910–1912). Radha Govind Sangit Sar. 7 vols. Edited by Balwant Trimbak Sahasrabuddhe. Poona: Poona Gayan Samaj. Here the raga is called God (Gaud) Malhar. Unlike the earlier sources, the text explicitly describes it as a mixed or composite form of Gaud and Malhar. It states that Shiva sang Gaud mixed with Malhar and gave the resulting raga the name Gaud Malhar.
The same work also records the name Godamallari in its index, where it is associated with the Megha group, though the relationship with Gaud Malhar, if any, is not clearly explained.
Bhatkhande's 20th-century codification In the early 20th century, Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande recorded Goud-mallara (Gaud-mallar) in his Abhinava-raga-manjari.Sharma, Vishnu [Pandit Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande] (1921). Abhinava-rāga-mañjarī (in Sanskrit). Bombay: Bhalchandra Sitaram Sukthankar. He classified it under the Kafi parent group (thaat) and documented two variants, noting that "another Gaud-Mallar is also heard".
Bhatkhande does not provide a historical account of the raga's origin nor does he explain whether his Goud-mallara descended from the earlier Gondamalhara or God Malhar. He also does not state that the name represents a combination of the ragas Gaud and Malhar, despite the composite name.
Compositions A number of traditional compositions (bandishes) are performed in this raga:Acharya Vishwanath Rao Ringe ‘Tanarang’, Acharya Tanarang Ki Bandishen, Vol. 2. +BandishFormTaalLayaThemeMighwa Barse Ri SakhiSadraJhaptal VilambitRainy Season Bole Re PapiharwaChota KhyalTeentalDrutLonging (virah rasa)Garje Re Ghata GhanChota KhyalEktal DrutRainy Season Ham Tum Sang Na Bolen BolenChota KhyalTeentalDrutMananaKari Ghata Ghir AaiChota KhyalTeentalDrutRainy Season
Film songs SongMovieComposerArtists Jhir Jhir Barase Savani AnkhiyanAashirwad (film)Vasant DesaiLata Mangeshkar Garajat Barsat Bheejata AiloMalhar(1951 film)Roshan (music director)Lata Mangeshkar Jurm-e-Ulfat PeTaj Mahal (1963 film)Roshan (music director)Lata Mangeshkar Sharabi, Sharabi Ye Savan Ka MausamNoor Jehan (film)Roshan (music director)Suman Kalyanpur
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