Raag Hindustani
© 2011, Sādhana

Composition in Raag Bihag

Raag Bihag portrays moods of joy and romance. It is traditionally performed late at night and up to midnight. This raga belongs to the Bilawal thaat. Its vadi (most important note) is Ga, and samvadi (second most important note) is Ni. Raag Bihag's aaroh and avaroh (ascending & descending scales) are as follows:

Scale: Bihag

Below are a couple of simple compositions (bandish) in Raag Bihag.


1. Pyari pyari akhiyan radhe ki

This old composition in Raag Bihag is a drut khayal in Teentaal (16-beat rhythm cycle). In it, Radha's mother says that her daughter's lovely eyes have enchanted Krishna and stolen his heart, and Krishna's mother counters that her son is so charming that Radha cannot bear to stay apart from him. (Please correct me if my interpretation of this composition is incorrect).


Pyari pyari akhiyan radhe ki (key B♭)

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2. Dekho sakhi kanhaiya roke

This composition in Raag Bihag is a bandish ki Thumri in Teentaal (16-beat rhythm cycle) from the Gwalior gharana (school). It is written from the perspective of the young women of Braj, who are exasperated yet secretly pleased with little Krishna, who plays mischievous tricks on them as they go to fetch water from the river.


Dekho sakhi kanhaiya roke (key B♭)

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Compositions in other ragas



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