Bhopali, also known as Bhoop, Bhoopali or Bhupali, is a Hindustani classical raga. It is a pentatonic scale (uses 5 notes in ascending and descending scale). Most of the songs in this raga are based on Bhakti rasa.

The same raga in Carnatic music is known as Mohanam.

Theory [edit]

Writing about the musical theory of Indian classical music is fraught with complications. There is no universally accepted set of rules or formal method of writing notations. However, the Bhatkhandhe and Paluskar paddhatis are the two ways of writing down musical notations. Indian music has always been more of an aural tradition, and written word has never been an essential part of imparting talim (training/knowledge).

Aroha & Avaroha [edit]

The scale of Bhopali uses only Shuddh swaras.

• Aroha (ascent): Sa Re Ga Pa Dha Sa
• Avaroha (descent): Sa Dha Pa Ga Re Sa

Vadi & Samavadi [edit]

Vadi
Gandhar - Ga (here-after G but not to be confused with note G of western music notations)

Samavadi
Dhaivat - Dha (here-after D but not to be confused with note D of western music notations)

Pakad & Chalan [edit]

The Pakad (catchphrase that often helps in identifying a raga) is:

S R G R S D1 S R G or: S R G R S D1 S R G P G D P G R S or: G R P G G R S R D1 S or: G R S D1 S R G R P G D P G R S Some chalans (elaborations of the pakad) are:

1. S R G R S D1 S R G
2. S R G R S D1 P1
3. P1 D1 S R G R G
4. S R P G
5. G R S R G P
6. G P D P D D S’
7. P G P D P D S’ R’ G’ R’ G’
8. G’ R’ S’ D P G R S

Note: Normally written swaras (individual notes) indicate the middle octave. A swara immediately followed by 1 indicates the mandra saptak (lower octave) and ' indicates the taar saptak (higher octave).

Bandish [edit]

This bandish is bound with Teentaal (16 beats).

1 2 3 4| 5 6 7 8|9 10 11 12|13 14 15 16|

ASTHAYI:

D2 S D2 P |G2 R2 S R2|

G2 _ G2 P |G2 R2 S _ |

S R2 G2 P |R2 G2 P D2|

G2 P D2 P |G2 R2 S _ |

ANTARA:

G2 _ G2 G2|P _ D2 P|

S' _ S'S'|D3 R3 S' _|

G3 G3 R3 S'|R3 R3 S' D3|

S' _ D2 P |G2 R2 S _|

The Asthayi starts with the 9th beat.

Organization & relationships [edit]

Raga Bhoopali belongs to the Kalyan Thaat.

Related ragas: Deshkar (a pentatonic raga belonging to the Bilawal Thaat with the same scale as Bhoopali)

Behavior [edit]

Behavior refers to practical aspects of the music. It is complicated to talk about this for Hindustani music since many of the concepts are fluid, changing, or archaic. The following information cannot be accurate, but it can attempt to reflect how the music existed.

Samay (Time) [edit]

Evening or Sandhya (First Prahar of Sandhya)

Seasonality [edit]

Certain ragas have seasonal associations.

Rasa [edit]

Bhakti Rasa (Devotional)

Historical Information [edit]

Origins [edit]

Important Recordings [edit]

E ri Aaj Bhaeelawa
Jab Se Tumi San Lagali - Kishori Amonkar
Sahela Re - Kishori Amonkar

Film Songs based on Bhopali [edit]

Jyoti Kalash Chhalke (Hindi Film Bhabhi ki Choodiyan)
Ghanashyam sundara (Amar Bhopali - Marathi Song)

See also [edit]

• Durga
• Shivaranjani

References [edit]

Bor, Joep (ed). Rao, Suvarnalata; der Meer, Wim van; Harvey, Jane (co-authors) The Raga Guide: A Survey of 74 Hindustani Ragas. Zenith Media, London: 1999.

External links [edit]

• SRA on Samay and Ragas
• SRA on Ragas and Thaats
• Rajan Parrikar on Ragas
• Bhoop / Bhopali
• Film Songs in Bhupali