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Raag · 3–6 pm · Longing

भीमपलासीBhimpalasi

An afternoon raag of longing: komal Ga and Ni, Re and Dha left out going up, and Ma its resting place.

This landscape is drawn from the raag: the far mountain rises with its aaroh and falls with its avaroh, and the near hills follow its pakad.

60 madhya
About these soundsMeend makes the harmonium and santoor sounds itself. They aren’t recordings of real instruments, so they sound close, but not quite the same. They are here to let you hear how the swaras go.The tanpura and tabla are recordings of real ones.
SRGMPDNभीमपलासी

Tap a swara to hear it

Thaat
Kafi
Jati
Audav–Sampurna
Vadi and samvadi
Ma and Sa
Its hour
3–6 pm, 4th prahar of the day
Its mood
Longing

Bhimpalasi is a raag of the fourth prahar of the day, the late afternoon, when the heat begins to ease: a raag of longing, tender and a little melancholy. It belongs to Kafi thaat, with komal Ga and komal Ni. Going up it leaves out Re and Dha, climbing from Ni below by Sa and Ga to Ma, Pa and Ni; coming down, every swara returns.

Hear it

Aaroh
NSGMPNS
Avaroh
SNDPMGRS
Pakad
NSMMGPMGRS

How it moves

Ma is Bhimpalasi's vadi and its resting place; Sa its samvadi. Its phrases lean on Ma again and again:

From komal Ni below, by Sa, to Ma
NSM
Ma, to komal Ga, Pa, and back to Ma
MGPM
Home, by Re
GRS
Up to taar Sa
GMPNS
Coming down from taar Sa
SNDPM

Its hour

1st prahar of the day, 6–9 am12nd prahar of the day, 9 am – noon23rd prahar of the day, noon – 3 pm34th prahar of the day, 3–6 pm41st prahar of the night, 6–9 pm12nd prahar of the night, 9 pm – midnight23rd prahar of the night, midnight – 3 am34th prahar of the night, 3–6 am4midnight6 amnoon6 pmnightdayBhimpalasi3–6 pm
4th prahar of the day, 3–6 pm. Its hour’s other raags: Patdeep, Multani, Marwa, Puriya Dhanashri.

Bhimpalasi belongs to the fourth prahar of the day, from 3 to 6 in the afternoon. Its vadi, Ma, lies in the lower half of the saptak, which by Bhatkhande's observation places a raag between noon and midnight.

On the bansuri

  • S
  • R
  • G
  • M
  • P
  • D
  • N
  • S
Its swaras on the bansuri, from Sa to taar Sa: a dark hole closed, a half-dark one half closed. Every swara’s fingering, in your key →

Look-alikes

Patdeep is Bhimpalasi with a shuddh Ni:

SRGMPDNभीमपलासीBhimpalasiVadi Ma, samvadi Sa · 3–6 pm
Bhimpalasi’s pakad
NSMMGPMGRS
SRGMPDNपटदीपPatdeepVadi Pa, samvadi Sa · 3–6 pm
Patdeep’s pakad
GMPNSNDPGMGRS
Bhimpalasi has komal Ni; Patdeep has Ni.

Bageshree, of the same thaat, has its weight on Ma and Dha, leaves out Pa going up, and belongs to midnight:

SRGMPDNभीमपलासीBhimpalasiVadi Ma, samvadi Sa · 3–6 pm
Bhimpalasi’s pakad
NSMMGPMGRS
SRGMPDNबागेश्रीBageshreeVadi Ma, samvadi Sa · midnight – 3 am
Bageshree’s pakad
SNDSMGMDNDMGRS
The same swaras: they differ in where they dwell and how they move.

Practise it

  1. Long notes on Ma and Sa.
  2. The aaroh and avaroh, slowly.
  3. The pakad and the phrases, resting on Ma.
Ma and Sa, held
M–––––––S–––––––
A short aalap
NSM–––GM
PMG–M–––
GMPNS–ND
PMGRS–––
A riyaz of Raag Bhimpalasi

Meend starts it with Aaroh–Avaroh, Pakad, Aalap and Bandish, 27 minutes a day, and listens as you play: each swara of the notation lit as it is played, the time kept, a lotus grown petal by petal.

Make it my riyazor check your playing on the tuner

Questions

When is Bhimpalasi sung?

In the fourth prahar of the day, the late afternoon, from about 3 to 6.

Which swaras are left out of Bhimpalasi's aaroh?

Re and Dha: it climbs Ni, Sa, komal Ga, Ma, Pa, komal Ni, Sa.

What is the difference between Bhimpalasi and Patdeep?

One swara: Patdeep's Ni is shuddh, Bhimpalasi's komal.