Greetings,

I have a question regarding Raga Puriya Dhanasri.

I've heard that it is a raga that is a mix between Puriya and Dhanasri. I know Puriya is based on the Marwa scale raga ('N r G M D N D N r' S': N r' N D N M D G M G,M G r S). But I have heard that Dhanasri is based on (if not, a former name of) Raga Bhimpalasi.

What is Raga Dhanasri and how does it relate to Puriya Dhanasri?

Thank you!

Dear Raga Tala,

The name Puriya Dhanasri is a misnomer for there isn't an allegiance to raag Puriya or the Marwa thaat here. It is a Poorvi thaat raaga whose name used to be poorvi dhanasri at one time.

Raga Dhanasri is an ancient raaga belonging to Kafi thaat and has the same scale as bheempalasi (the latter actually evolved from the former). However, unlike Bheempalasi, "Ma" is given little importance in this raaga and pancham takes its place and therein lies the essential difference between the two raagas.

Lore is that Raag Shree also belonged to Kaafi thaat at one point of time but it evolved over time into a poorvi-thaat raaga with the dhaivat becoming komal and other poorvi-features making their way into Shree. The poorvi-face of Shree was then grafted onto Dhanasri as well to create poorvi dhanasri (now called puriya dhanasri).

Hope that clarifies things for you. I'd be happy to refer to Bhatkhande ji's books if you need further clarification.

Bibhas

Thank you very much, Bibhas ji, for the clarification.

I'm trying to stretch my imagination to image how Raga Sri must have sounded like when it used to be in the Kafi thaat.