Raag Hindustani
© 2011, Sādhana

Composition in Raag Darbari

Raag Darbari (also called Darbari-Kanada) portays a very serious and solemn mood. It is considered among the most difficult ragas in Hindustani music because of its use of difficult microtones and heavy ornamentation. It is traditionally performed late at night. This raga belongs to the Asavari thaat. Its vadi (most important note) is Re, and samvadi (second most important note) is Pa. Raag Darbari's aaroh and avaroh (ascending & descending scales) are as follows:

Scale: Darbari

Below is a composition (bandish) in Raag Darbari.


1. Teri gati ati agaadh

This very ancient composition in Raag Darbari is a Dhrupad madhyalaya bandish by Tansen (Ramtanu Pandey, 1493-1586). It is originally set to Chautaal (12-beat rhythm cycle), but can also be performed in Ektaal (12-beat cycle). The composition is a hymn to Lord Vishnu. A line-by-line translation is provided in the video as well as with the downloadable notations below.


Teri gati ati agaadh (key A)

Click to download


Compositions in other ragas