Megh is a Hindustani classical raga. The meaning of megh in Sanskrit is 'cloud'. Hence this raga is mostly sung or played in the monsoon season. Another raga which describes rain is raga Malhar. These two ragas were merged and a new raga developed, raga Megh Malhar. The Carnatic music equivalent of this raga is Madhyamavati.
| Thaat | Kafi |
|---|---|
| Time of day | Any time during the rainy season |
| Season | Rainy season |
| Arohana | S M R M P Ṉ Ṡ |
| Avarohana | Ṡ Ṉ P M R M Ṉ̣ R S |
| Pakad | R R S Ṉ̣ S M R P M R Ṉ̣ S |
| Vadi | Sa |
| Samavadi | Pa |
| Equivalent | Madhyamavathi (Carnatic) Egyptian Pentatonic Scale (Western) |
Theory edit
Arohana & Avarohana
Arohana: S M R M P Ṉ Ṡ
Avarohana: Ṡ Ṉ P M R M Ṉ̣ R S
Pakad
R R S Ṉ̣ S M R P M R Ṉ̣ S
Vadi & Samavadi
In this raga vadi is Sa and samavadi is Pa – Re is used a lot but always sliding down from M, n always slides from P
Organization & Relationships
Related ragas: Ragas of Malhar family, namely Megh Malhar, Miyan ki Malhar, Gaud Malhar, Ramdasi Malhar, Dhuliya Malhar, etc. as well as Madhmad Sarang.
Thaat: Kafi.
Mixture
The meaning of Megh in Sanskrit is 'Cloud'. Hence this raga is mostly sung or played in the Monsoon season. Another raga which describes rain is raga Malhar. So these 2 ragas where merged and a new raga was developed, this raga is raga Megh Malhar. So raga Megh has mixture with raga Malhar which forms raga Megh Malhar.
Behaviour edit
Samay (Time)
Late night.
Seasonality
Raga Megh is commonly associated with the monsoon season. Because the meaning of Megh in Sanskrit is 'Cloud'. Hence this raga is mostly sung or played in the Monsoon season.
Rasa
Gambhir rasa
Historical Information edit
Origins
This is one of the very old ragas found in Indian classical music. This raga is related from Lord Krishna time period, when Govardhan Parvat (mountain) was on Lord Krishna's short finger during the Govardhan leela, then Lord Shiva generated a Damru sound to protect Lord Krishna. That sound which was generated by the Damru was raga MEGH....
Legend edit
There is legend stating that Tansen's physical agony after singing Raga Deepak (Poorvi Thaat) was pacified with listening to Raga Megh Malhar rendered by two sisters, Tana and Riri.
Film songs edit
Language: Hindi edit
| Song | Film | Year | Composer | Singer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Khaike Pan Banaraswala | Don | 1978 | Kalyanji-Anandji | Kishore Kumar |
| Teri Tasveer Ko | Sawan Ko Aane Do | 1979 | Raj Kamal | K. J. Yesudas |
| Kahan Se Aaye Badra | Chashme Buddoor | 1981 | K. J. Yesudas, Haimanti Shukla | |
| Chaiyya Chaiyya | Dil Se.. | 1998 | A R Rahman | Sukhwinder Singh, Sapna Awasthi |
| Dheem Ta Dare | Thakshak | 1999 | Surjo Bhattacharya | |
| Munni Badnaam Hui | Dabangg | 2010 | Lalit Pandit | Mamta Sharma |
| Shankara Re Shankara | Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior | 2020 | Mehul Vyas | Adarsh Shinde |
Language: Tamil edit
A few songs are composed in Raga Madhyamavathi, the Carnatic equivalent of Megh.
| Song | Film | Composer | Singer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Muthukkalo Kangal | Nenjirukkum Varai | M. S. Viswanathan | T. M. Soundararajan, P. Susheela |
| Kana Kaanum | Agni Sakshi | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Saritha | |
| Aagaya Gangai | Dharma Yuddham | Ilayaraja | Malaysia Vasudevan, S. Janaki |
| Tholvi Nilayenna Ninaithal | Oomai Vizhigal | Manoj-Gyan | P B Sreenivas, Abavanan, Chorus |
| Velli Malarae | Jodi | A. R. Rahman | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Mahalakshmi Iyer |
| Oru Deivam Thantha Poove | Kannathil Muthamittal | P. Jayachandran, Chinmayi | |
| Thumbi Thullal(Abheri traces also) | Cobra | Nakul Abhyankar, Shreya Ghoshal | |
| Thom Karuvil Irunthom | Star | Shankar Mahadevan | |
| Ennai Konja Konja | Aathi | Vidyasagar | Hariharan, Sujatha Mohan |
Important recordings edit
- Amir Khan, Ragas Megh and Lalit, HMV LP (long-playing record), EMI-EASD1331
- Pt Ajoy Chakraborty -Raag Megh (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sg6LDWgv4Tc)
References edit
The Raga Guide: A Survey of 74 Hindustani Ragas. Zenith Media, London: 1999.
Ramashreya Jha explains the difference between Sarang and Megh http://www.parrikar.org/hindustani/sarang/