Bhoopali, also called Bhoop, is a raag of five swaras: Sa, Re, Ga, Pa and Dha. Ma and Ni are left out entirely, going up and coming down, and what remains is open, calm and devotional. It belongs to the first prahar of the night, like Yaman, and to Kalyan thaat, though it uses none of Kalyan's tivra Ma. With its few swaras and no altered ones it is among the first raags a student meets, and, like every simple raag, the hardest to make sound like itself.
Hear it
Set your Sa, turn on the tanpura, and listen to Bhoopali's aaroh, avaroh and pakad:
The same five swaras up and down. Everything that makes Bhoopali Bhoopali is in how they are used.
How it moves
Ga is Bhoopali's vadi, the swara it dwells on, and Dha its samvadi. Its weight is in the lower half of the saptak: its phrases rest on Ga and Sa, and often fall below Sa to mandra Dha before returning.
Pa leans on Ga, often with a slow meend from Pa down to Ga, and Ga on Re:
The leaps are part of its character: Ga to Pa, Dha to taar Sa, with no Ma or Ni to fill them, give Bhoopali its wide, open sound.
Its hour
Bhoopali belongs to the first prahar of the night, 6 to 9 pm, the hour of Yaman too. Its vadi, Ga, lies in the lower half of the saptak, which by Bhatkhande's observation belongs between noon and midnight. Its morning twin, Deshkar, with the same swaras but its weight in the upper half, belongs to the morning: the same five swaras, read from the other end of the day.
On the bansuri
- S
- R
- G
- P
- D
- S
- With no Ma, no Ni and no komal or tivra swara, Bhoopali is kind to a beginner: the place to learn what a raag is before learning altered swaras.
- Its glides are its life: practise the meend from Pa down to Ga, and from Ga to Re, slowly, so the swaras between are heard.
- Its phrases dip to mandra Dha: practise that low swara as a long note, so it speaks without a push.
- The trap is to let it drift up into the upper half and stay there: that is Deshkar's territory. Bhoopali comes home to Ga and Sa.
Look-alikes
Deshkar has exactly Bhoopali's swaras. What separates them is where they live: Bhoopali in the lower half, on Ga, in the evening; Deshkar in the upper half, on Dha and Pa, touching Re and Sa only lightly, in the morning.
Shuddh Kalyan climbs as Bhoopali does, but on the way down it lets in Ni and tivra Ma, in passing:
Durga has five swaras too, but with Ma where Bhoopali has Ga:
Practise it
- Long notes on Ga and Dha, its vadi and samvadi.
- The aaroh and avaroh, slowly.
- Paltas in its five swaras, in threes.
- The pakad and the phrases, with their glides.
- A short aalap, slowly.
All ten alankars in Bhoopali, to hear in your Sa →
Meend starts it with Aaroh–Avaroh, Pakad, Paltas in Bhoopali, 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.
Listen
Kishori Amonkar's Sahela re, a bandish in Bhoopali, is among the best-loved recordings of any raag, and a lesson in how much five swaras can hold.
Questions
Which swaras are not used in Bhoopali?
Ma and Ni: Bhoopali uses only Sa, Re, Ga, Pa and Dha.
What is the difference between Bhoopali and Deshkar?
The same five swaras. Bhoopali lives in the lower half, dwells on Ga and belongs to the evening; Deshkar lives in the upper half, on Dha and Pa, and belongs to the morning.
Is Bhoopali the same as Mohanam?
Its swaras are the same as the Karnatic raga Mohanam's, the pentatonic scale of Sa, Re, Ga, Pa and Dha; the two raags are sung each in its own way.
When is Bhoopali sung?
In the first prahar of the night, from about 6 to 9 pm.