Malkauns is one of the oldest and gravest raags, a raag of the middle of the night: deep, still and meditative. It has five swaras, Sa, komal Ga, Ma, komal Dha and komal Ni, and leaves out Re and Pa entirely. Without Pa, the fifth that anchors most raags, Malkauns floats, and its swaras circle Ma, its centre. It belongs to Bhairavi thaat.
Hear it
How it moves
Ma is its vadi and Sa its samvadi. Its phrases turn around Ma, slowly:
Its hour
Malkauns belongs to the third prahar of the night, from midnight to 3: the stillest hours.
On the bansuri
- S
- G
- M
- D
- N
- S
- Play it slowly, with long breaths: Malkauns is all gravity, no hurry.
- With no Pa to lean on, Ma is home: tune it, rest on it, return to it.
- Tune komal Ga, Dha and Ni together against the tanpura's Sa: in a five-swara raag, each must be exact.
Look-alikes
Bhairavi has all of Malkauns's swaras, and Re and Pa besides:
Bageshree, of the same hour, has shuddh Re and Dha, and a little Pa:
Practise it
- Long notes on Ma and Sa.
- The aaroh and avaroh, slowly.
- Paltas in its five swaras, in threes.
- The pakad and the phrases, around Ma.
All ten alankars in Malkauns, to hear in your Sa →
Meend starts it with Aaroh–Avaroh, Pakad, Paltas in Malkauns, 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.
Questions
Which swaras are left out of Malkauns?
Re and Pa. It uses Sa, komal Ga, Ma, komal Dha and komal Ni.
When is Malkauns sung?
In the middle of the night, from about midnight to 3.
Is Malkauns the same as Hindolam?
Its swaras are those of the Karnatic raga Hindolam.