Time theory of Ragas

Hindustani classical music strictly adheres to the tenets of time theory of ragas. Time of day in performance of north Indian ragas has influenced Hindustani music for centuries. Scholars and musicians give utmost importance to adherence to the tenets of time theory while performing ragas.

The seasonal connections are believed to predate those with the time of day. Scales have also changed over time, while time and season connections often remained with the name.

Certain svaras, or combinations of svaras, might have a higher probability of communicating certain emotions appropriate to certain times of the day/night than others. Hence the effect of a raga is enhanced when performed/ listened to during a particular time of day or season. A raga should only be performed in the time frame allotted to it.

The concept of time theory was first mentioned in Sangeeta Makaranda (8th-9th Century) by Narada. 

There is a popular legend around the Narad Muni regarding the importance of time in singing ragas. Once Narad Muni was very proud of his ability to sing and boasted in front of lord Vishnu. Vishnu on seeing the pride took Narad muni to a Palace to show him the results of his miraculous singing. Upon entering the palace, Narad saw many beautiful men and women fallen with broken limbs and distorted. Lord Vishnu then remarked to Narad that they were the Raga and Raginis which Narad has been singing wrongly in wrong times. Narad Muni then realized his mistake in pride and importance of correct timing of each Raga-Ragini.

Various emotions associated with the time of day are as follows

Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande (1860-1936) is often referenced as the only scholar to have made a thorough thesis on time and performance practice. The day is divided into eight prahars each of three hours. The first half of the day is called Uttarardh (12am to 12pm) and Second half is called Poorvardh (12pm to 12am). Each half contains 4 prahars. 

Pt VN Bhatkande has developed a cycle of the 10 prevailing Thaats forming the basic rules for performance of a raga in a given prahar. As the prahar changes so does the thaat and the ragas associated with them completing a full circle at end of 12 hours. The cycle again repeats with the same thaats but different ragas of the thaat in the other 12 hours. 

Jairazbhoy states: ‘The significant feature of the Circle of Thats is that it shows an easy transition from scale to scale, and it is not surprising that the ragas are generally performed in this sequence during the course of each day. There is thus some reason to suppose that the scales may have evolved in this same sequence during the course of the centuries and to say that the daily succession of rags is, in some respects, a reconstruction of the course of evolution.’

The events of sunrise and sunset, midnight and noon all are significant in Indian culture. The times known as sandhi Prakash (Before Sunrise / Before Sunset), or the meeting of light—hold a special place in north Indian music and Hinduism. Some of the best ragas are heard during this time. 

Currently only Hindustani Classical music follows the Time Theory. Karnatic music has a history of time and season association, which has disappeared altogether.

There are four principles based on which the time theory of raga is based upon

1. Advadarshak swar

2. Vadi-Samvadi

3. Poorvang-Uttarang

4. Re-Dha Komal, Re-Dha Shuddha, Ga—Ni komal

In Hindustani music the madyam swar has high importance. Ma is the middle swar in a Raga and it helps decide the individuality of the raga. Advadarshak means showing the way.

The time of raga is decided based on the swar Ma - whether it is sung in the day or night. Pandit Venkatamaki has talked of the importance of Ma as it has the ability to change the character of the raga. Ma is also an important swar in Sandipraksah ragas

Scholars have divided the 24 hours into two parts – first half is called poorvardh (12pm to 12am) and the second half is called uttarardh (12am to 12pm). 

In the poorvardh the usage of tevra M is prominent and the Uttarardh the usage of shuddh M is prominent (with exceptions)

Popley writes that Tevra Ma does not occur in the morning unless accompanied by a stronger shudda Ma. It can resolve either down or up, giving it an ambiguous quality, compared with the definite direction in the other strong tendency tones.

 Eg – Bhairav and bahar – in both shudh M is used. Even if we do not know the exact timing, based on the usage of Shuddh M in both we can ascertain that it belongs to any prahar in the Uttarardh. 

Like this in Poorvi, marwa, multani – we use Tevra M, based on the same logic it belongs to the poorvardh time.

But this classification has some exceptions like raga basant, we use both Madyams have to be used, and tevra M is more prominent. And in spite of tevra M it belongs to Uttarardh. (ratri ka antim prahar) Like this , paraj, hindol, todi, bhimpalai, bageshri, durga, desh etc  do not follow the above rules. 

Some key observations on usage of Ma:

1. In the pratah kaal ka sandiprakash ragas are with shuddh Madhyam: 

   1. Bhairav, kalindga, jogiya

   2. In ragas using Both Ma, The Shuddh Ma is more prominent Ramkali, Lalit

2. In sayankalan ka sandiprakash raga are with tevra Madhyam

   1. Shree, marva, pooriya

3. In ragas using Both Ma, The Tevra Ma is more prominent in evening ragas and vice versa in morning ragas. Poorvi. 

4. In ragas sung during the first prahar of night, and which have both Madhyams, Shudda madyam is used in both Aroh and avroh. But Tevra madyam is used only in avroh.

Hence Ma is a very important swar in raga sangeet. Just by making Ma tevra in morning raga Bhairav we get Evening Raga Poorvi and similarly by changing Ma Tevra in Morning raga bilawal we get evening raga yaman.

Just like how the day is divided into two parts, the saptak is divided into two parts – poorvang and uttarang. This is important to determine the timing of the raga. Poorvang is Sa Re Ga Ma and uttarang is Pa Dha Ni Sa. This was the first division used in ancient times.

The location of the Vadi bisects the day by dividing the Scale. Poorvang Ragas will have vadi in the lower tetrachord and Uttarang Ragas will have vadi in the upper tetrachord. For e.g, the vaadi swar of raga bilawal is dha and it comes in the utharang of the octave, hence it is being played in the utharardh. This is how we can determine the time of raga with the the help of the vaadi swar.

Later on music scholars found that there were a lot of exceptions to this based on the poorvang and uttarang. Ragas like bhimplasi and bhairavi have the vadi Ma and samvadi Sa which belong to the same tetrachord - poorvang. This is was not acceptable. The samvadi or the next important note is closely related to the vadi swar in terms of placement in the swar saptak. Based on the shadj-pancham or Shadj-Madhyam bhav the samvadi will be located in the opposite tetrachord. The Vadi and Samvadi swar are usually 9 or 13 Shruthis apart.

Eg. Re (poorvang) –Dha (uttarang), Ga-Ni ,Sa-Pa, Ma-Sa. 

Also we know from the practical arts that bhairavi is an uttarang raga sung in pratah kaal. Hence to remove this issue, scholars had increased the tetrachord from Sa to Pa in Poorvang and Ma to Taar Sa in Uttarang. 

General Observations 

• Dawn ragas will have vadi in the uttarang

• Dusk ragas will have vadi in poorvang

• Sa,Ma,Pa can be vadi of a raag during anytime of day and night

Ragas which are exception to this rule – Bageshri, Gaud Malhar, Gaud Sarang, Durga, Hameer 

Each raga has a unique nature and is elaborated either in Poorvang or Uttarang or equally in both. Poorvang ragas are best elaborated in Mandra and Madhya saptak. The Uttarang ragas are best elaborated in Madhya and Taar saptak.

Those ragas which are poorvang Pradhan are sung in 12pm to 12am. Eg- ragas like bhimplasi, kedar, bhoopali, darbari are poorvang Pradhan ragas. Ragas which are uttarang Pradhan are sung in 12am to 12pm. Eg- Deshkaar, sohini, hindol, bahar, jaunpuri are uttarang Pradhan ragas. 

These are also known as poorva raga and uttar raga. There are exceptions to this rule also! Raga hameer is uttarang Pradhan based on raga swaroop but it is sung in the poorvardh

Ranade describes the uttrang as the "vigorous and active part of the day," while the purvang is "delicate and plaintive...one is mostly by oneself and puts on a reflective mood".

General Observations

1. The placement of Vadi swar also determines the ang in which the raga is sung.

2. Poorvang ragas have elaborate aaroh 

3. Uttarang ragas have elaborate avarohs

When Pandit VN Bhatkande had researched the existing practice and ancient theory, he classified all the Ragas prevailing then into 10 Thaats. He then grouped the 10 thaats into three 

Thaats with Re and Dha Komal, Re Ga Dha Ni Shuddh, Ga and Ni Komal

Ragas having Re and Dha Komal

Ragas with these notes and Ga , Ni Shudda are to be performed during twilight, dawn (4am to 7am) and dusk(4pm to 7pm). 

1. Such ragas are called Sandi Prakash Ragas.

2. Thaats under this classification – Bhairav, Poorvi, Marwa

3. Ragas in the day prahar: Bhairav, Kalingda

4. Ragas in the night prahar: Poorvi, Marwa

A question arises that why ragas like Marwa are Sandiprakash ragas inspite of Dha being shuddha? In sandiprakash ragas we find that Re is Komal and Ga is Shuddha. Also based on Advadarshak swar, in Sayankalin Sandiprakash Ragas, Tevra Ma is present. Hence with these observations Marwa is a Sandiprakash raga.

Ragas having Re, Ga, Dha, Ni Shuddha

Ragas with these swars are to be performed after the Sandiprakash ragas i.e morning(7am to 10am) and evening (7pm to 10 pm). In these ragas Ga is always Shuddha otherwise it wil be accounted for in Ga-Ni Komal. Hence this varg is also known as Re-Ga Shuddha.

1. Thaats under this classification: Kalyan, Bilawal, Khamaj

2. Ragas in the day Prahar: Bilawal, barang

3. Ragas in the night Prahar: Yaman, Bhoopali

4. Madhyam is also an important Swar in these Ragas. Ragas after morning Sandiprakash Ragas have Shudda Ma and those after evening Sandiprakash Ragas have Tevra Ma. There are some exceptions to this rule – hindol which in sung in early morning has tevra Ma. Ragas like Durga, Desh, Tilak Kamod, Khamaj are sung in the night but use shuddha Ma.

Ragas having Ga, Ni Komal

The ragas with these swars are performed after Ragas with Shuddh Re and Ga. i.e 10am to 4pm and from 10pm to 4am. (includes midday and midnight ragas). Some musicians say that the time starts from 12 to 4. But Ragas like Todi, Bhairavi, Jaunpuri have to be sung before 12pm, hence the time starts from 10am. 

1. Thaats under this classification: Kaafi, Asavari, Bhairavi, Todi. Hence this varg has more time allotted to it.

2. Ragas in the day prahar: Asavari, Jaunpuri, Todi

3. Ragas in the night prahar: Bageshri, Jaijawanti, Malkauns, Kafi .

4. Re, Dha could be Komal or Shuddh

5. Sa, Ma, Pa are important notes in ragas of this classification in the third Prahar of day and night.

6. Ga and Ni in Afternoon Ragas shine with glory wherein Re, Dha are insignificant or not present

Ragas like Patdeep and Madhuvanti are exceptions as it used Ga komal and Ni shuddha. They are performed in the fourth prahar of day.

Hence the above three divisions can be summarized with the below to accommodate all the ragas:

1. Re komal Ga shuddha

2. Re and Ga Shuddha

3. Ga komal

Historically the Sandis or twilight is considered auspicious and important in Hinduism and its rituals. Various prayers are offered during these times like the ritual of Sandhyavandan. In Hindustani classical music, the ragas which are sung in the twilight of Dawn and Dusk are known as SandiPrakash Ragas or twilight Ragas. Twilight is defined the moments before Sunrise and after sunset. Ragas which use Komal Re and Shuddh Ga fall under the category of SandiPrakash Ragas. This gives the time or Prahar of 4am to 7am in the morning called the pratah kaalin sandiprakash and 4pm to 7pm in the evening called the sayankalin Sandiprakash. Ragas like Purvi, Marwa, Bhairav, Kalingda, Jogia, Lalit, Ramkali, Shree, Puriya Dhanashree belong to this group. The thaats of poorvi, bhairav, Marwa hosts the sandiprakash ragas. These ragas have the high ability to affect the emotions of humans. These ragas are associated with Shanti Rasa and karuna rasa and invokes feeling of bhakti.

The Thaats of Hindustani sangeet are classified based on swar into three

1. Re komal, Ga Shuddh

2. Re Dha Shuddh

3. Ga Komal

Obervations

1. An important point to note is that Re is komal and Ga is shudda in Sandiprakash ragas

2. Madhyam is also an important swar in these Ragas. Ragas after morning Sandiprakash Ragas have Shudda Ma and those after evening Sandiprakash Ragas have Tevra Ma

3. Some Ragas will use shudda Dha but Re will always be Komal for these Ragas

4. Evening sandiprakash ragas do not omit Ga Ni, and morning sandiprakash ragas do not omit Re Dha

5. When sandiprakash ragas use both Ma, Shuddh Ma is prominent in the pratah kaal ragas and Tevra Ma in Sayankalin kaal ragas

6. Sa is never vadi swar for Sandiprakash ragas

7. Pratah Kaalin sandiprakash ragas use Ma Pa Dha as vadi and Sayankalin ragas use Re Ga Pa as Vadi 

8. If the Raga is of Poorvi or Puriya ang then Ga is vadi, if the raga is Shri or Marwa ang then Re is vadi.

9. Phrases like Ni Re Ga are used in Sayankalin sandiprakash ragas and Ni Sa Ga in Pratahkaalin Sandiprakash ragas

The 10 thaats of Hindustani music are each given a particular prahar of day and night for performance. There are also some raag in which the qualities of a prahar as well as the qualities of the other Prahar are also there. 

Those raags which help moving from one thaat to another is called as Parmel Praveshak Raag.

Eg: Khamaj thaat belongs to the pratam prahar of raatri (6pm-9pm) and in the next prahar we sing the raags of kafi thaat (9pm to 12am).

Jayjawanthi is parmel praveshak because it has charateristics of both these thaats.  In Khamaj thaat both nishads (shudh and komal) can be used and in kaafi thaat both ghandars (shudh and komal)can be used, Jayjawanthi has both the ghandars and  nishads and it can be sung anytime during the gaayan samay of these two thaats. Similarly ragas like Malgunji which uses both forms of Ga and Ni (Khamaj to Kafi). Puriya Kalyan (Marwa to Kalyan)

Similar to the time theory, the tradition of associating ragas to seasons is much ancient one. The seasonal perspective on Raga-s is a distinctly North Indian perspective not shared currently by the Carnatic tradition, and for probably understandable reasons. Being closer to the equator, the Southern Peninsula does not experience as dramatic a change in the physical environment through the year as does the Northern heartland

In India, we have various melodies being sung in various seasons as evident in the folk tunes of different parts of the country. India has many traditions of lok geet which are sung during the specific seasons like hori, sawani, Chaiti, kajri etc. Hence the classical tradition has also absorbed many a lok-geet and tunes.

As matter of academic interest, the Hindu calendar divides the year into six distinct seasons, and the tradition appears to have prescribed Ragas for performance in each of these seasons. Hence Ragas also are performed in specific seasons. Ragas have however changed over time, while time and season connections often remained with the name.

During the six seasons, certain ragas can be played anytime of that season. The various aspects of music such as the words of the geet, the raga, the bhav it invokes, the occasion and time all are inter-related. It is mentioned in the vedas that sama gaan was sung according to the seasons. Just like how ragas are sung in the particular time of day which reflects the mood of the raga, there are ragas which depict the mood of the seasons of the year. Sharangdev in his book Sangeet Ratnakar has mentioned the ragas to be sung under the various seasons

Greeshma Ritu  Gaud Pancham

Hemant Ritu Bhinna Shadaj

Vasant Ritu Hindol

Sharad Ritu Raganti

Along with this he has explained about day and night ragas 

The author of Someshwar mata is of the opinion that each raga and its ragini should be sung in the specific season of the year. There was a strict adherence to the principle of time and season and occasion on which a song is played or sung. 

Manasollasa, a treatise written by Someshwara (1131 AD) provides insights into this dimension of musicological thought.

Some ragas bear the name of the season in which it is to be performed like basant, bahar, megh, malhar and Hindol.

While the scholarly tradition supports a wide scope for seasonal Raga-s, the enthusiasm of the performing tradition has been limited largely to Vasanta (spring) and Varsha (rainy season/ the monsoons).  There seems to be a good reason for this bias. In the climatic experience of Northern India, spring and the monsoons have special significance.  Spring brings relief from the severity of Northern winters, while the monsoons bring relief from the oppressive heat of the Northern summer. Both seasons signify nature rejuvenating itself. Understandably, therefore, the popular seasonal Raga-s are associated primarily with these seasons.

The swars Re, Ga, Dha, Ni are important in deciding the key feature of a raga. Ma is known as the adhvadarshak swar and helps decide the timing and nature of a raga. Ragas using Ga-Pa, Pa-Ga sangathis are sung either in morning or in evening. 

Features of Morning Ragas

1. Importance of Taar Shadaj

2. When Dha, Pa increase, so does the gambhirata in a raga and it is sung in morning.

3. When influence of Ma and Ni decrease, it increases the gambhirata in the raga and hence its more likely sung in the morning. 

4. Uttarang of the raga is given more importance as usually the vadi is placed here.

5. Taar Sa, Ma, Pa Dha are usually Vadi swar of morning ragas.

6. Pa is an important rest note in morning ragas.

7. Dha-Pa swar sangatis are mainly used in morning ragas

8. Morning Ragas usually favour Shuddha Ma

Features of Evening Ragas

1. Importance to Re, Ga, Pa

2. Poorvang of the raga is given more importance as usually the vadi is placed here.

3. Re, Ga, Ma, Pa are usually vadi swars of evening ragas.

4. Sa is an important rest note in morning ragas.

5. Evening ragas favor tevra Ma.

6. Ragas with both Ma are sung in the last prahar of night

1. The ragas of Hindustani are broadly classified into three groups

   1. Re Ga Shuddh

   2. Re Ga Komal

   3. Ga Komal

2. Sandiprakash ragas have Re komal Ga Shuddha

3. Ga Ni Komal ragas are sung in mid day or mid night

4. Re Ga Dha Ni Shuddh ragas are sung immediately after sandiprakash ragas

5. Evening sandiprakash ragas do not omit Ga Ni, and morning sandiprakash ragas do not omit Re Dha

6. Day ragas have vadi in uttarang and Night Ragas have vadi in poorvang.

7. Sa, Ma, Pa can be vadi of ragas in any time of Day and night.

8. Dawn ragas favour Re-Dha and dusk ragas favour Ga-Ni

9. Sa, Ma, Pa are important notes in ragas of Third prahar of Day and Night

10. In ragas sung in first prahar of night and which uses both forms of Ma, Shuddha Ma is used in aroh and avroh, tevra Ma is used in aaroh. 

11. In ragas sung in first prahar of day and which uses both forms of Ma, Shuddha Ma is more important than Tevra Ma and vice versa in night 

12. In ragas of first prahar of night Arohi Ni and Avrohi Ga are vakra

13. In ragas sung in afternoon, Re-Dha are insignificant or absent in aroh. Ga and Ni shine with glory

14. Poorvang ragas have elaborate arohs, and uttarang ragas have elaborate avroh

Currently only Hindustani Classical music follows the Time Theory. Carnatic music has a history of time and season association, which is either not followed or upheld in concerts.

Before the fall of the Raj, classical music's role in the court was more appropriate for obeying time tradition. Musicians were dedicated throughout the day and year, compared to the evening concert hall setting of contemporary India. 

In the earlier patronage system, there was no demand for morning ragas in the evening since they could be performed naturally in their proper time. 

With the fall of British Empire and the independence of India, Hindustani Sangeet was faced with little or no support from princely states. Gharana based musicians were very privy to their art and compositions and hence were not accessible to all. At a time when Music was considered low grade, it was VN Bhatkande and VD Paluskar who led the renaissance of Hindustani classical music in the Post British era. 

In light of this, Alain Danielou writes. The cycle of the day corresponds to the cycle of life which also has its dawn, its noon, its evening. Each hour represents a different stage of development and is connected to a certain kind of emotion. The cycle of sounds is ruled by the same laws as all other cycles. This is why there are natural relationships between particular hours and the mood evoked by musical modes.

With the support of VN Bhatkande and VD Paluskar, many an institutions were setup across India to teach, study, sustain and popularize Indian music. 

Since music courses are time bound, a student is taught ragas as per the convenience of class timings and pending syllabus to be completed. Hence time theory is not strictly adhered to in music schools and colleges. While some gurus who privately coach students prefer to follow the time theory in teaching ragas, many others teach ragas in any time but prefer to restrict the time theory to performance of the raga.

One of the major factors which helped the spread of Indian music reach the greater audience was the A.I.R or All India Radio. Many of the great artistes of 20th C were inspired by the sounds of Radio and gramophone to take up classical music. Both Radio and Gramaphone helped sustain artistes and promote music to all households

There were specific time slots allotted for Classical music in radio broadcasts, but the time theory was not upheld while broadcasting various ragas.

Before the fall of the Raj, classical music's role in the court was more appropriate for obeying time tradition. Musicians were dedicated throughout the day and year, compared to the evening concert hall setting of contemporary India. In the patronage system, there was no demand for morning ragas in the evening, since they could be performed naturally in their proper time.

With music becoming an aspect of entertainment, concerts and conferences began to further spread the reach of our great musical heritage. The concept of time theory did undergo major changes during this period.

The concept of evening sabha was much popular to the people of general working class to attend. Hence some musicians prefer only to perform evening ragas and some perform all types of ragas. This forced some ragas from not being performed and vice versa according to tradition.

Earlier days saw all night concerts and artistes would have much time to elaborate a raga. Now a days, with many artistes wanting to perform. the concerts are of shorter duration and artistes wish to perform many ragas within that time to showcase their talent relaxing some rules of time theory. 

Also, Sabhas which were once held in open spaces have now moved to closed door audiences with AC. Hence the philosophical meaning of sunrise, sunset, afternoon, and midnight does not hold good for concert halls or sabhas.