RaagAnga

The word raagang in music denotes angas or limbs of a Raga. Raagang ragas in ancient times were mentioned in texts like Brihadeshi. Matang has written about the deshi ragas and classified them as Raagang, Bhashang, Upaang, Kriyang. Those ragas which has the shadow of gramaraga is called as Raagang. This concept further developed in the medieval period. Sangeet Parijat has details of varieties of a raga based on this concept. Later on, Pandit Bhaavbhat has written about 18 raga varieties of bilawal and kalyan and its 148 forms. 

The term Raag-ang has been in existence in Hindustani Sangeet from the thirteenth century. It was during this period that pandit sharangdev was present and he had classified the ragas sung during his time into 10 groups, one of which was raag-ang. The 10 groups were (1) Grama Raga, (2) Raga, (3) Uparaga, (4) Bhasha, (5) Vibhasha, (6) Antarbhasha, (7) Raganga, (8) Bhashanga, (9) Upanga and (10)Kriyanga. The first six groups come under the Margi Sangeet or gandharva sangeet. The last four come under the Desi Sangeet category. We do not have any clear and detailed explanation of these 10 categories in any ancient texts. Even what ever written material is available is all contradictory to each other. Hence, we know very little of the above topic.

He also mentions 8 old popular raagangs- Shankarabharan, Ghantaarav, Hamsaka, Deepak, Reeti, Karnatika, Laati, Paancholi; and 13 new popular raagangs of his time, Madhyamaadi, Malavashri, Todi, Bangaal, Bhairav, Varati, Gurjari, Gaud, Kolahal, Vasantak, Dhanyashree, Deshi, Deshakhya.

Damodar Pandit, in his book Sangeet Darpan has written that, those ragas which have a shadow of gramaraga are known as raagang ragas – Deepak, Bhairav, Shankarabharan.

There are ragas which contain certain unique phrases which have an independent nature and mood. These swar samoohs are called raga-angas. When these swar samoohs are used or sung, one can easily identify the Parent Raga. 

Raagang means a unique phrase in a raag suggesting its characteristic feature. This

key-phrase is called as Raagang and any Raag which uses this key-phrase belongs to the family of main Ang-Raag.

Pandit Bhatkande has written in his book Sangeet Shastra – those ragas which follow the rules of shastriya Sangeet are raagang ragas. The effect of Ragang Vargikaran is seen in the ragas classified under the Mel paddhathi. Pt Bhatkande has classified the ragas of kafi ang, dhansree ang, kanada ang, sarang ang, malhar and under the Kafi mel. The basic similarity in ragas is done through the swars and the special swar samoohs used in the ragas which give the unique flavor and mood is called the raagang. Hence Ragas of Hindustani music dependent on the knowledge and application of Raagang to bring out the unique flavour of each raga by use of its characteristic phrases and successfully differentiating it from nearby ragas.

Some time back in 1947, in Mumbai, Narayan Moreswar Khare in his book Sangeet Shastra darshan had written – Of the popular ragas of the day, based on the style of singing, usage of swars and swar combinations, had identified 30 raagangs which are unique and have a unique flavor and classified all the ragas under it. Based on the style rules of singing the raag-ang raags, the other ragas classified under it are to be sung. By closely studying the various ragas and style of singing, he had identified 30 swar samooh like GaMaReSa, PaReSa, MaRePa etc.  He named the raagang based on the raga which uses the swar samooh most. For eg the first swar samooh is of Bilawal ragang and the second is Bhairav ragang. Just as how a raga is classified based on its thaat, here the raga is classified based on its raag-ang. Thaat Vargikaran of Bhatkhande is based on the swar and raga swaroop. 

In the modern day, Ashray ragas gave rise to the 10 thaats of Hindustani music. They are called ashray ragas as the other ragas associated with them based on the singing style of the raga. These ragas and its angas are found in the ragas associated with it. Later, the ashray ragas and their derivatives further gave rise to other upa-raagang ragas like Nat, Gaud, Malhar, Kanada, Bahar, Bihag, Bageshri, Sarang, Shri, Gowri, Kedar. These are all associated with the parent Raagang ragas or Ashray Ragas.

When these ragaangs are applied in combination with another raga, we get the raagang based raga. There is wide scope for expansion in such ragas. 

There are many ragas which do not have a clear phrase or ang and it is purely based on swar. Hence ragas were classified as Shuddh, chayalag, sankeerna. Chayalag ragas often have shadow of the raagang raga. E.g Bhoopali has influence of Kalyan Raagang and Deshkar has influence of Bilawal raagang.

Many ragas are differentiated primarily based on the raagang to which it owes its allegiance. Ragas of similar structure and notes or using common phrases are differentiated in this way.  Deshkar and Bhoopali are mainly sung in Bilawal and kalyan ang respectively. Swar sangathis of G M R S are different in Malhar and Kanada,  N P and M R are sung differently in Malhar and Sarang ang ragas.

In Mishrit ragas, it is necessary to depict both the raga characteristics. Hence instead of badat of swars, we use badat of swar-samoohs, wherein both the ragas can be given equal importance and one after the other the ragas are established. For E.g in Ahir Bhairav to balance both the ragas the swar samoohs Ga Ma Re Sa and Dha Ni Re Re Sa are used frequently

Thaat Vargikaran is based on the swar and raga swaroop. This classification is more based on raga swaroop than on the swars used in the raga. Pandit Khare had felt that thaat Vargikaran had some deficiencies and hence had adopted this approach. He was convinced that all the ragas of Hindustani Sangeet can be classified under these 30 raag-angs, but the no of ragas are also increasing simultaneously. New aspects are always welcomed at the cost of what is exisiting. There are so many ragas being adopted from the dakshina Sangeet and there are complications arising as to which raag-ang to classify them under, such as keeavani, basant mukhari, Charukesi, parameshwari etc. similarly the same problems arise in Mishra ragas. Hence some scholars had thought of increasing the no of raag-angs. Their opinion was that thaat Vargikaran was only based on swar not the raga swaroop. Ragas like bhoopali and deshkar have the same swars but kept under different thaats. But for the normal people the critical differences will not be known. Hence on increasing the no of raagangs, compared to thaat Vargikaran, raag-ang Vargikaran will be more comprehensive and convenient. Some scholars had proposed the introduction of malkauns, gowri, pancham, bahar and Mishra raag-ang.

Raagangas are identified by certain characteristic phrases in the Poorvang ang and/or Uttarang of a Raga.

a. Poorvang phrases

i. G M R S – Bhairav

ii. G M R S – Bilawal

iii. S R G - Todi

b. Uttarang phrases

i. S R S, N D P – Kalyan

ii. M’ P D P – Kalyan

iii. S D N P – Bilawal

Creating Raagang based ragas:

1. Base raga + Poorvang or Uttarang of another raga

   1. E.g Ahir Bhairav or Anand Bhairav

2. Base Raga + characteristic phrases of another raga

   1. Ramkali

3. Omitting notes in Raagang Raga

   1. E.g Bhoopali or Deshkar

4. Changing the Chalan of Raagang raga

   1. Allahiya Bilawal

5. Change of Vadi-Samvadi

Naming of Raagang based Ragas:

Usually, Raagang ragas are named after the prominent anga demonstrated based on which the raga is elaborated. Some names are apparent combinations of two raga angs like Chayya Nat or Gaud Malhar. Some names like Jayant Malhar give clues to the nature of other raga, in this case Jaijawanti. Other ragas such as Soor Malhar contain the name of the person who created the variety using Malhar raagang. For others there is no clear explanation like Lankadahans Sarang. 

In the word of Pandit Ramshreyajha – In uttar bharat Sangeet, Raga gayan and vaadan in total is pivoted on the raag-ang ragas. If the musician doesn’t have full knowledge of the raag-ang ragas, then he or she will not be able to perform with competence. Hence it is of prime importance to learn the raag-ang and then perform. A Raagang is not just a group of swars, it can effectively be demonstrated by use of various types of embellishments unique to the raga such as Nyas, Kan, Meend, Khatka, Alankar, Alpatv-bahutva, Gamak, Andolan, Laya. 

1. Nyas swar is very important in ragas with similar melodic movement such as Puriya and Marwa. Nyas on Re will establish Marwa and Nyas on Ga will mean Puriya.

2. Swar Sthan – even though we say there are 12 swars, the actual application of shruthi in each raga tends to change the position of notes in a raga. Terms such as ati-komal Ga, Dha or Tevratam

3. Meend is employed in Gambhir ragas such as Kalyan in Pa-Re sangathi or Re-Pa in Malhar. Also the same Pa-Re sangathi in different ragas use different intermediate notes. Pa-Re in Chayanat employs Shuddh Ma whereas in Kalyan ang it is with Tevra Ma. Ma Re Pa is used in Durga, Kamod and Malhar, but use of meend in malhar helps differentiate it

4. Andolan is essential on Re in Bhairav raagang G M R R S. the same swar samooh is without andolan in ragas like Ramkali.

5. Gamak – Gamak is used in ragas such as megh to differentiate it from madhmad sarang.

6. Kan swars are very important in ragas. G M R S of Kanada and Malhar both use andolit Ga, but the Kan swar is Poorva Lagan Re in Kanada ang and Anulagan Ma in Malhar ang.

7. Laya of swar sangathi also varies in similar ragas such as Adana-Darbari, Malhar-Bahar. The first raga is Chanchal and the second raga is Gambhir. Hence the same swar sangathi GMRS is performed accordingly.