Abstract

Notable books on raga sangeet from authors like Bhatkhande, Patwardhan, Jha, Shah, Banerjee etc. chiefly inform about the following types of Malhar: Suddha Malhar, Gaud Malhar, Megh, Miya ki Malhar, Ramdasi Malhar, Surdasi Malhar, Nat Malhar, Dhoolia Malhar, Mirabai ki Malhar, Charjoo ki Malhar, Gaudgiri Malhar and Jayant Malhar and many more. According to Bhatkhande raga Suddha Malhar has the ghatak avayav or constituent elements for all the other Malhars. The anga of Malhar mainly consists of a strong associational bond between the swaras m-R and R-P. A phrase like n D N Ṡ is specially accredited to raga Miya Malhar. However, raga Miya Malhar itself is a blend of the Suddha Malhar and Kanada angas. The primary objective of this paper is to analyze the vocal performances of five types of Malhar ragas which include, Suddha Malhar, Gaud Malhar, Miya ki Malhar, Sur Malhar or Surdasi Malhar and Ramdasi Malhar. It is being assumed that an anga- based qualitative assessment of recorded performances, would aid in bringing a thorough understanding of raga sangeet, enabling an understanding of the difference between theory and its application in the performance practice.