Nachiketa Sharma
Hindustani Vocal

Raga Todi

A morning melody, this is the definitive rAga of the toDi group. The set of swaras employed is made up of shaDaj, komal rishab, komal gandhAr, teevra madhyam, pancham, komal dhaivat and shuddha nishAd. The characteristic feature of the toDi rAgAnga is the microtonal transitions and interaction between the komal rishab and komal gandhAr. The dhaivat and gandhAr are dominant in the development.  The ascending tonal sentences bypass the pancham; in descent it is assigned the role of nyAsa-swara and serves as a beautiful point of repose.

The first offering is a traditional vilambit composition in ektAl (12 beats), mero mana yAda karo. It is followed by a druta teentAl (16 beats) cheez in praise of Goddess Saraswati, tanaka hero hamari ora, composed by the great contemporary vAggyakAr and vidwAn, Pandit Ramashreya "Ramrang" Jha. This rAga is also referred to as Miyan-ki-Todi.

Real Audio Clip of Todi

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