Miyan Malhar - The unfolding of amazing moods

Now, let us examine one Raga which unfolds before us, a blend of many moods. This is Miyan Ki Malhar or Miyan Malhar, which probably I would say, is the king of all Ragas. Although played typically in monsoon, this Raga is an all time treasure of variety of ironical pairs of moods like happiness-sadness, relaxation-anxiety, clarity-mysteriousness, romance-anger, covering-uncovering of magical treasure and so on. Let me try to demonstrate.
The DNA of this Raga lies in the wave like aggression created by 4 swaras which are Ni(flat), Dha(Basic), Ni(basic) and Sa(Upper in the octave). The unfolding of all those moods narrated above can be felt through this unique sequence.
To experience this sitting at your home, try to put yourselves at a place which is adorned with, all rainy clouds clad mountains all around with valley in front of you, the touch of cool breeze, foggy weather, the sound of a gushing but hidden stream of water, the alternate covering and uncovering of valley and mountains by the clouds and then, the sudden sight of a gushing waterfall from a cliff straight into the valley.
Fortunately, if you have happened to be at such a place, nothing like it. You can just recapitulate those scenes in front of you while listening to Miyan Malhar. If you haven’t been to such a place, just imagine the monsoon weather while you listen to this Raga. You can feel all those moods narrated above, may not be at first instance, but definitely after 5-6 times of focused listening.
The songs based on Miyan Malhar are:
Bol re papihara – Guddi (Vani Jayram)
Giri ghatanye aasaman par - Lata
Baadal ghumadh badh aaye – Saaz
Saavana Ghana garaje bajaaye
Ghiri Ghiri aayi badariyan – Sardar-e-begum

The feeling unfolds like this.

Transition from Flat Ni to Basic Dha – The mood manifested by this aggression resembles to existence of something mysterious, a valley packed with moderate fog, sounds of invisible streams coming from the valley, the aggression of monsoon with stormy winds, sky covered with black clouds and a feeling of anxiety within you, because you are missing someone beloved.

Transition from Basic Dha to Basic Ni and then to upper Sa in the Octave – This wave of swaras gives the sense of the valley getting slowly uncovered, those invisible streams of water suddenly unfolding their aura before you, those gushing water falls with their mesmerizing beauty starting to appear one by one before you, the stormy wind carrying all the clouds from the valley with it, and someone beloved surprisingly appearing before you.

These are just some of the feelings, which can be sensed while listening to Miyan Ki Mlhar consciously, while it is raining or there is rainy weather around you. Believe me, experiencing this relation between these moods created by this raga and their relation with the moods present in the Mother Nature, bestows unending treasures of eternal happiness. Its just a matter of sensing this with your active antennas.

You may listen to some of Miyan Malhar clips at following locations:

Zala (fast tempo improvisation) played on Flute in Miyan Malhar
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_2_vTUonjE

Pandit Bhimsen Joshi:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bu2O21kASKw

Rahul Deshpande:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVQA8fC6OeQ

Pt Shivkumar Sharma:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVQA8fC6OeQ

In the next phase of this blog, I propose to write about a group of evening Ragas, which unfold a treasure of twilight moods in front of you while listening to them.