"Malhar" is a Hindustani classical raga. Malhar is associated with torrential rains. Besides the basic Shuddha Malhar, which was the original Malhar, several Malhar-related ragas use the Malhar signature phrase m (m)R (m)R P, including "Miyan ki Malhar", "

Megh Malhar Megh Malhar is a Hindustani classical raga. The name derives from the Sanskrit word ''Megh'', meaning ''cloud''. Legends say that this raga has the power to bring out rains in the area where it is sung. Megh Malhar is similar to raga Megh with a ...

", "Ramdasi Malhar", "

Gaud Malhar Gaud Malhar is a raga in Hindustani classical music that combines characteristics of Malhar "Malhar" is a Hindustani classical raga. Malhar is associated with torrential rains. Besides the basic Shuddha Malhar, which was the original Malh ...

", "Sur Malhar", "Shuddha Malhar", "Desh Malhar", "Nat Malhar", "Dhulia Malhar", and "Meera ki Malhar". This phrase, although it might seem similar and equivalent, is different from the swara phraseology employed in Raga "

Brindavani Sarang Brindavani Sarang or Brindabani Sarang, also known as raga Sarang, is a Hindustani classical raga. It is also called Vridavani Sarang. This raga falls under the category of Sarang ragas. Theory Brindabani Sarang is a Kafi thaat raga. It wa ...

". It can be determined that raga Malhar or rather Miyan ki Malhar is a mixture of ragas "

", raga " Kafi" and raga "

Durga Durga ( sa, दुर्गा, ) is a major Hindu goddess, worshipped as a principal aspect of the mother goddess Mahadevi. She is associated with protection, strength, motherhood, destruction, and wars. Durga's legend centres around c ...

".This raga has a ''Vakra'' form (meaning that the swaras of a raga are not completely arranged in a particularly straightforward manner), and is classified as a Ghambir Prakruti raga (meaning that it is played slow with patience, and it is played in a serious tone/note).

Legend

According to legend, Malhar is so powerful that when sung, it can induce rainfall. Many written accounts describe the Raga Malhar.

Tansen Tansen ( – 26 April 1589), also referred to and commonly known as Sangeet Samrat () , was a Hindustani classical musician. Born in a Hindu Gaur Brahmin family, he learnt and perfected his art in the northwest region of modern Madhya Pr ...

Baiju Bawra Baiju Bawra (Lit. "Baiju the Insane", born as Baijnath Mishra) was a dhrupad musician from medieval India. Nearly all the information on Baiju Bawra comes from legends, and lacks historical authenticity. According to the most popular legends, he ...

, Baba Ramdas, Nayak Charju, Miyan Bakhshu, Tanta rang, Tantras Khan,

Bilas Khan Bilaskhani Todi is a Hindustani classical raga. It is a blend of the ragas Asavari and Todi, and has a close affinity with Komal Rishabh Asavari. Theory The Hindustani classical raga Bilaskhani Todi is an example of the flaws of the Bhatkhand ...

(son of

), Hammer Sen, Surat Sen, and

Meera Meera, better known as Mirabai and venerated as Sant Meerabai, was a 16th-century Hindu mystic poet and devotee of Krishna. She is a celebrated Bhakti saint, particularly in the North Indian Hindu tradition. Mirabai was born into a Rathore ...

Bai are some of those said to be capable of starting rains using various kinds of Raga Malhar. Mughal emperor

Akbar Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (25 October 1542 – 27 October 1605), popularly known as Akbar the Great ( fa, ), and also as Akbar I (), was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Hum ...

once asked his court musician Miyan

to sing "Raga Deepak", the raga of Light/Fire, which caused all the lamps in the courtyard to light up and Tansen's body to become so hot that he had to sit in the nearby river to cool himself. However, the river began to boil, and it became apparent that Tansen would soon boil to death. So he set out to find someone who could sing Raga Malhar to cure him. In due course, he reached

Vadnagar Vadnagar is a town and municipality in the Mehsana district of the state of Gujarat in India. It just about 35 km from Mehsana city. Its ancient name was Anartapura, and was also known as Anandapura. It was a Buddhist location visited by X ...

, a town in

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

. There he came across two sisters named

Tana and Riri Tana and Riri is an Indian story about two girls born around 1564, who were asked to sing in the court of Akbar. The story has become part of Gujarati folk culture. The twins were from a northern town known as Vadnagar near Visnagar in the state ...

, whom he asked for help, to which they agreed. The moment they started singing the Raga Malhar, rains came down in torrents, which helped cool Tansen's body. The many variations of Raga Malhar have been categorised chronologically by era – ''prachina'' (before the 15th century), ''madhyakalina'' (15th – 18th century) and ''arvachina'' (19th century and beyond). Ragas Shuddha Malhar, Megh Malhar and Gaud Malhar belong to the first period. "Miyan Ki Malhar", also known as Gayand Malahar as both nishads (shudh and komal) swing around the dhaivat like a (gayand) elephant swinging his head.

Prominent Bandishes composed in Raga Malhar

In popular culture

Bankim Chandra Chatterjee Bankim Chandra Chatterjee (also Chattopadhayay) CIE (26 or 27 June 1838 – 8 April 1894) was an Indian novelist, poet, Essayist and journalist. Staff writer"Bankim Chandra: The First Prominent Bengali Novelist" ''The Daily Star'', 30 June 201 ...

Bengali language Bengali ( ), generally known by its endonym Bangla (, ), is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Bengal region of South Asia. It is the official, national, and most widely spoken language of Bangladesh and the second most widely spoken ...

novel '' Anandamath'' (1882), a band of

yogi A yogi is a practitioner of Yoga, including a sannyasin or practitioner of meditation in Indian religions.A. K. Banerjea (2014), ''Philosophy of Gorakhnath with Goraksha-Vacana-Sangraha'', Motilal Banarsidass, , pp. xxiii, 297-299, 331 Th ...

s sing ''

Vande mataram ''Vande Mataram'' (Sanskrit: वन्दे मातरम् IAST: , also spelt ''Bande Mataram''; বন্দে মাতরম্, ''Bônde Mātôrôm''; ) is a poem written in sanskritised Bengali by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee in th ...

'' in Raga Desh.Raga
. Centre of South Asian Studies, School of Oriental and African Studies,

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degr ...

. In

Satyajit Ray Satyajit Ray (; 2 May 1921 – 23 April 1992) was an Indian director, screenwriter, documentary filmmaker, author, essayist, lyricist, magazine editor, illustrator, calligrapher, and music composer. One of the greatest auteurs of ...

's film ''Jalsaghar'', Raga Malhar is used to link the powers of nature and the hero's internal conflict. The song ''Thumbi Thullal'' from the movie '' Cobra'' is based on this raag. It is composed by

A. R. Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967) is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer and songwriter, popular for his works in Indian cinema; predominantly in Tamil and Hindi films, with occasional forays in int ...

and sung by

Shreya Ghoshal Shreya Ghoshal (born 12 March 1984) is an Indian singer and television personality. One of the highest-paid and most well-established playback singers of Indian cinema, she has received four National Film Awards, four Kerala State Film Awards ...

Nakul Abhyankar Nakul Abhyankar (born 25 May 1990) is an Indian playback singer, music composer and sound engineer. He has sung in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Tulu. He is best known for his songs "Love You Chinna" from the film " Love Mocktail" com ...

Historical information

There is a legend stating that

's physical agony after singing Raga Deepak (Poorvi Thaat) was pacified with listening to Raga "Megh Malhar" rendered by

Film songs

Tamil

Also see

Malhar (family of ragas) Malhar Ragang and all other ragas falling under this category are ragas in the Hindustani Classical music. ''Ragang'' refers to a family of ragas sharing a common melodic kernel. Other similar raga families are the Sarang family and the Kanada fa ...

References

{{Rāgas as per Performance Time Hindustani ragas Ragas in the Guru Granth Sahib