Pahadi… the Mountains’ Call

 “Peace, power, pathos, poignancy: these words together constitute an apposite expression of the aesthetics of the raga Pahadi. The raga is like a lover, unruffled in union, serene in separation, powerful enough to achieve eternal union, but resigned to the painful parting ordained by destiny”.

~Haresh Bakshi, 101 Ragas for the 21^st century and beyond

The mountains are a synonym of home for me for I grew up in their midst. The scent of the pines to breathe in, the silhouettes of the peaks on the horizon, just after the sunset, to watch...the fresh, crisp morning air to feel, and the lovely folk music to listen.... I miss all these when I am away from home. No wonder then that almost every time I hear a song that takes me back to the hills, it turns out that it is set in the raga Pahadi- A raga that is said to have been evolved from the folk melody of this region that spans from Nepal, to Kashmir, to Himachal and more..

This unplugged version of Kaaga Ja, a composition based on Pahadi, sung by Shafqat takes my breath away each time I hear it. It was a part of the album called Kyun Dooriyan.

A “light” Raga?

The raga is often found appropriate for and used in semi classical and light music forms like thumri, dadra, ghazals and bhajans. Ustad Salamat Ali Khan in this interview talks of Pahadi and almost writes it off as a raga. He says that he hardly considers it a raga- it is more like a halka phulka raga at the most since unlike the other big ragas like Darbari and Malkauns artists don’t really sing Dhrupad and Khayal in Pahadi.  He also adds that Pahadi and Bhairavi are the very common templates into which most of the world music would fit in

But ironically, it is he, who has sung some of the most beautiful pieces of Pahadi

He demonstrates the universality of Pahadi by singing it in various styles here

And here is are two very famous Pahadi thumris by him and his brother Nazakat Ali

Laagi re manwa pe chot..

Saiyan bina ghar soona..,

Pahadi and the Patiala Gharana

Talking of Pahadi, one of the contemporaries of Ustad Salamat Ali Khan and the Patiala Gharana legend, Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan has also rendered some very beautiful pahadi pieces.

First and foremost his bhajan- Hari Om Tatsat. Words, which when  translated, mean -God is the supreme, absolute truth

Ab to aao sajana… Pahadi dadra

And this endearing Kashmiri/ pahadi folk song- Mhare Raje de jamadar jee…

Another beautiful rendition of the same song by Bashir Ali Mahee of the Patiala Gharana can be heard here 

The raga belongs to the Bilawal that under the Bhatkande system of classification and is Audav-Sampoorna Raga, with swaras Ma and Ni not being used in the Aaroh, while all seven swaras being used in the Avroh or the descent.

Aroha: S R G P D S'

Avaroha: S' D P G R S.

Here’s a demonstration-

Meant to be sung in the evening and early night hours, Pahadi is usually rendered in the mandra and madhya saptak- the lower and middle octaves. However the restrictions on timing of rendition are no longer strictly followed and it is one of the ragas that can be performed at any time of day/ night

Coming back to Pahadi by the Patiala Gharana, here is the living legend from the gharana, Ustad  Fateh Ali Khan rendering a beauty- More Angna suhag barasan laaga

And then this beautiful Punjabi song in Pahadi- Kidda Sona lagna hai mere dholna, rajj rajj tere naal bolna                                                                                                                               

Pahadi Instrumental & the Folk Connection

Talking of Pahadi in instrumental music the two instruments that transport you instantly to the hills are the Flute and Santoor.

The sounds of flute meander through the ranges, echoing the free spirit that they represent and then raise your spirit to peaks of ecstasy…just like the mountains soar up to the skies.

And what embellishes and further adorns the breathtaking beauty of the hills is the water- free-falling waterfalls along the rocky facades of mountains, or the bubbly, playful, streams bounding along the uneven bouldered paths, or a large placid lake guarded protectively by hills with a gently rippling reflection of the moon on a cold silent night…the sound of the water is the sound of santoor for me.

And when you talk of these two instruments then you can’t but talk about their greatest exponents- Pandits Hariprasad Chaurasia and Shiv Kumar Sharma. Their collaboration on the album -Call of the Valley produced this beautiful and commonly heard Pahadi tune

And the flavor of this tune also can be experienced in a well -known Himachali folk song called Kunjo- Chanchalo. Here’s an instrumental version of the same.

And here’s Ustad Shujat Hussain Khan combining the magic of his sitar with another folk beauty- Lajo, Lajo

Traces of the same can be experienced in this Himachali folk song from Kangra..

Pahadi in Hindi Films

Pahadi based film songs would make a whole new series of blog post because of the sheer number of the songs based on /inspired by this by this beautiful raga

But here I mention a few of my favorites-

This much loved, Naushad composition from the 1945 Anmol ghadi sung superbly by Noorjehan

Lata Manageshkar in this gem from the Film Bazaar ( 1949) with music by ShyamSundar

Music of Pakezaah is a music lover’s delight and the background score by Nasuhad included some divine thumris by artists of great stature Like Shobha Gurtu and Parveen Sultana. A delightful thumri in pahari by Vani Jayram- Mora Saajan Soutan is also a part of these “ Lost thumris of Pakeezah” and you can read about it the listen to it here

Music director Jaidev and lyricist Jaan Nisar Akhtar together captured the essence of Pahadi truly with this absolutely amazing number

Dhadakte hain dil kitni aazadiyon sey, bahut milte julte hain in waadiyon sey

Pahadi goes South

I was surprised to see the pahadi presence in Carnatic music as well…  this  is a Pahadi thillana composed and performed by Lalgudi for his album South meets North with Amjad Ali Khan

And this is a version of the same by the Hyderabad Brothers for their album called Annapoorne

Ghazals in Pahadi

And finally some beautiful use of Pahadi for ghazals- there’s Ghulam Ali’s - dil mein ik lehersi uthi hai,  but this one by Mehdi Hassan with the  mesmerizing words by Bahadur Shah Zafar  has always been an absolute favorite.

Ending where we started- with the album version of Shafqat’s Kaaga Ja as this one song demonstrates  how  Raga Pahadi,very surprisingly, can evoke the feelings of peace and pining together- feelings which you would normally place at two extremes of a mood spectrum.

                                                                           

And some special mentions

1) Ali Bux Zahoor- Laakh jatan kar haari, Pahadi Dadra

2) Bade Amanat Ali Khan Kasuri- Lagay tore nainwa ke baan- Pahadi Thumri

3) Ustad Sadiq Ali Hassan Mando- Pahadi on clarinet

4) Chamba Bhajan - Shiv Kailahon ke waasi- on Pahadi Shehnai