Raga Bhupali, also known as Bhoop, is a common evening raga describing melancholy. Pandit Arun Bhaduri starts with comparing Bhupali and Deshkar.
Both ragas use the same 5 swaras – Sa, Re, Ga, Pa, Dha – that is, they share a common scale. The Arohan and Avrohan are Audav-Audav for both ragas.
Here are the key differences
| Bhupali |
Deshkar |
| Bhupali, an evening raga belongs to Kalyan thaat |
Deshkar, a morning raga belongs to Bilawal thaat. |
| Bhupali concentrates on uses the purvaang swaras of the scale, Sa, Re, Ga |
Deshkar uses the Uttarang swaras, Pa, Dha, Sa, (of the higher register or tar saptak). |
| Though both ragas utilize the same notes or swaras, it is the chalan or the exposition of each raga that is very different: |
| Here is the chalan of Bhupali. The main phrase here is Pa Dha Sa Dha Pa Ga Re Sa Re Pa Ga |
Here is the Deshkar Chalan . Note that there is only a mild use of Rishabh in Deshkar |
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Important phrases that identify Deshkar and do not occur in Bhupali are |
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Finally, Here is a bandish in Bhupali , in which you may observe the repeated use of Gandhar
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Listen to a bandish in Deshkar |
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Here now is another raga, Shuddh Kalyan, which runs very closely along the lines of Bhupali. This is how the chalan of Shuddh Kalyan goes
The common features of these 2 ragas are :
- Bhupali and Shuddh Kalyan are both in Kalyan thaat.
- Both use the Purvaang swaras of the octave and the vadi (most prominent) swar of both ragas is Gandhar.
And here are the differences:
| Bhupali |
Shuddh Kalyan |
| The arohan and avrohan of the 2 ragas vary: |
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| Raga Bhupali has 5 notes in both arohan and avrohan (Audav – Audav). |
Raga Shuddh Kalyan has 5 swaras in Arohan & 7 in Avrohan (Audav - Sampurna): Sa, Re, Ga, Pa, Dha, Sa and Sa Ni Dha Pa Ma Ga Re Sa. |
| There is a subtle difference in the use of meends of Pa-Ga and Sa-Dha: |
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| Bhupali may employ a swift Pa-Ga or Sa-Dha |
Shuddh Kalyan takes a slower glide, also skimming over Tivra ma , as in Pa-Tivra ma-Ga |
| The Seventh note, Nishad is completely absent in Bhupali. |
Raga Shuddh Kalyan also employs a meend over Ni, as in Sa-Ni-Dha.
In the delineation of Shuddh Kalyan, both Ni and Ma are generally not prominent, being used only as meends. However, notice the use of a straight Nishad in the illustration above – Pa Dha Sa-Ni-Dha Ni Pa. |
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Ni and Ma are prominent in Shuddh Kalyan when used in sargams or taans. |
| Now listen to the main phrases of Bhupali, followed by Shuddh Kalyan to get a clearer picture of the differences |
| Finally, here again is the bandish in Bhupali |
And, here is a bandish in Shuddh Kalyan |