Shuddh Kalyan is a raag of the first prahar of the night, slow and stately. It climbs as Bhoopali does, Sa Re Ga Pa Dha, with neither Ma nor Ni; on the way down it lets them in, briefly, a passing Ni and a tivra Ma, and those touches of Kalyan are what tell it from Bhoopali. It is sometimes called Bhoop Kalyan.
Hear it
How it moves
Ga is its vadi and Dha its samvadi. Its phrases are slow, and dip low below Sa:
Its hour
Shuddh Kalyan belongs to the first prahar of the night, from 6 to 9 in the evening, with Yaman and Bhoopali.
On the bansuri
- S
- R
- G
- M
- P
- D
- N
- S
- Play it slowly: its character is in long, unhurried phrases.
- Touch Ni and tivra Ma only in passing, coming down: held, they turn the raag into Yaman.
Look-alikes
Practise it
- Long notes on Ga and Dha.
- The aaroh and avaroh, slowly.
- The pakad and the phrases.
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.
Questions
What is the difference between Shuddh Kalyan and Bhoopali?
Both climb Sa Re Ga Pa Dha. Shuddh Kalyan lets Ni and tivra Ma in, in passing, on the way down; Bhoopali never uses them.
When is Shuddh Kalyan sung?
In the first prahar of the night, from 6 to 9 in the evening.