Definition of Thaat :
The collection of notes which is capable of Producing Raagas is known as ‘thaat’. Thaat is also defined as a parent scale. In other words ‘Swar Saptak’ or the Gamut of seven notes which has Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni, in this serial order and is able to produce a raga is called thaat.
Who invented Thaats? The theory of 72 thaats :
The Hindustani system of music admits of 12 notes in an octave known as Sa, Re, Re, Ga, Ga, Ma, ma,Pa, Dha, Dha, Ni, Ni. Out of this 12 note ‘thaat’ or the ‘parent note’ is obtained by mathematical process of permutation and combination or variations of the 12 notes in a serial order.
Pandit Vyankatmakhi a great musician and writer, in the 17th century came up with his book ‘Chaturdandi Prakashika’. He went through all the possible combinations with the twelve notes and laid down precisely the number of thaats produced. According to him 72 thaats could be accurately produced form the twelve shudda and vikrit swaras or the sharp and the flat notes. And Eventually selected 19 suitable thaats under which all the North Indian ragas has been classified. The Hindustani Classical music took 10 out of these thaats and classified the ragas under them.
What are the Essential feature of thaats? What is the difference between a Raga and thaat?
1. A thaat must always have all the seven notes of the scale.A raga may have less than seven notes but a thaat should always have seven notes in it. The reason is since some ragas have seven notes in it therefore at thaat must always have seven notes, If a thaat contains less than seven notes it cannot form a raga.
2. A thaat must always have the notes in serial order i.e. it a thaat must start from Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, Ni, .A raga may or may not be in a serial order but a thaat must always start from middle octave Sa to the higher octave Sa.
3.The two notes of the same denomination may come one after the another in a thaat. Since a thaat takes notes in a serial order. Therefore,sharps and flats may come one after the another.
4.A thought has only the ascent or the Aroha. It thaat is recognised by its ascent alone. As for instance Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni Sa. This scale indicates the thaat Bhairav. Eranga has both the ascent and the descent.
5.A thaat may or may not sound pleasing to the ears as it has both the sharps and flats. It may or may not have a musical value. But a raga must always sound pleasing to the ears even though it is derived from a specific thaat.
6.A thaat is always derived from a big and an important Raga.
As for instance, the thaat Bhairav is derived from the Raga Bhairav.
How did Pandit Vyankatmakhi derive the 72 thaats from the 12 sharp and flat notes?
1. He took the 12 notes in an order Sa Re Re Ga Ga Ma ma Pa Dha Dha Ni Ni.
2. Now omit tivra ma from the series and add the higher octave Sa to complete the 12 series note. Now we have Sa Re Re Ga Ga Ma Pa Dha Dha Ni Ni Sa
3.In the next step we will divide the notes in two equal parts ‘Sa Re Re Ga Ga Ma’ and ‘Pa Dha Dha Ni Ni Sa’. Now we will have to find out how many thaat or melakartars can be made from the said twelve notes.
4.A complete thaat has seven notes in a serial order. And since we have divided the strings of the 12 notes into two parts.Therefore, each of the two parts will produce only a certain number of half scales or half melakartas having the names Sa Re Ga Ma and Pa Dha Ni Sa respectively.
5.While constructing the half scales from the six notes of each part we must follow the rule laid by Pt. Vyankatmakhi namely the first and the last note must represent the extremities in every one if the half-scales i.e Sa and Ma in the first half scale and Pa and Sa in the second half. Now by simple method of permutations and combinations six half scales of four notes from the first part of the series can be obtained as :-
a) Sa Re Ga Ma
b) Sa Re Ga Ma
c) Sa Re Ga Ma
d) Sa Re Ga Ma
e) Sa Re Re Ma
f) Sa Ga Ga Ma
6.Now let us construct the second part of the series:-
a) Pa Dha Ni Sa
b) Pa Dha Ni Sa
c) Pa Dha Ni Sa
d) Pa Dha Ni Sa
e) Pa Dha Ni Sa
f) Pa Dha Ni Sa
7.Now to form a thaat if we combine the first half of the scale to the second half of the scale of each group we will get a complete series of 36 thaat. This is for the suddha Ma.
8. Now if we use Tivra ma instead of Sudha Ma then we will get another 36 set of thaat which completely makes 72 thaat.
Note: Thaats aren’t meant for singing. A thaat is only the swar-saptak or gumut of seven notes neither more nor less out of which ragas having 5, 6 or 7 notes are formed. In place of ancient Murchannas we have the thaat system in the modern Hindustani Music.
Description of the 10 thaat in Hindustani Classical Music:
1. Bilawal Thaat :
The scales of this Thaat is all suddha. Bilawal is the most basic of all the ten thaats. All the swars in the thaat are shuddha or all swars in the natural scale. Bilawal as a raag is not rendered these days however a small variation of the raag called Alahaiya Bilawal is very common. This is a mornig raag and its pictorial descriptions create a rich, sensuous ambience in consonance with its performance.
Raags in Bilawal Thaat : Deskar, Haunsdhwani, Variations of Bilawal.
2. Khamaj Thaat:
The next thaat is Khamaj which can be obtained by replacing the Shuddha Nishad of Bilawal by Komal Nishad. The raags of this thaat are full of Shringar Ras (romantic) hence this raag is mostly rendered in the form of light classical thumris, tappas, horis, kajris etc. Its pictorial descriptions in the existing texts are sensuous and even today, the raag Khamaj is considered to be a 'flirtatious' raag. There is another theory which assumes that in the past, Khamaj scale found its way in Ch'in music of the late medieval China.
Raags in Khamaj Thaat : Rageshree, Jhinjhoti, Des, Tilak Kamod, Jaijaiwanti, Khambavati etc.
3.Kafi thaat :
Kafi thaat makes use of the Komal Gandhar and Komal Nishad. So basically it adds Komal Gandhar to the Khamaj Thaat. raag Kafi is one of the oldest raags and its intervals are described as basic scale of the Natyashastra. Thus in ancient and medieval times, Kafi was considered as natural scale. Kafi is a late evening raag and said to convey the mood of spring time.
Raags in Kafi Thaat : Dhanashree, Dhani, Bhimpalasi, Pilu, Megh Malhar, Bageshree etc.
4. Asavari thaat:
Add Komal Dhaivat to Kafi thaat and you get Asavari Thaat. raag Asavari is full of tyag, the mood of renunciation and sacrifice as well as pathos. It is best suited for late morning. However important evening/night raags like Darbari and Adana also use notes of asavari thaat with different styles, stress points and ornamentations.
Raags in Asavari Thaat : Asavari, Desi, Darbari, Adana, Jaunpuri etc.
5. Bhairavi thaat:
Bhairavi makes use of all the komal swars, Rishabh, Gandhar, Dhaivat, Nishad. When singing compositions in Bhairavi raag, the singers however take liberty to use all the 12 swars. Bhairavi raag is names after the shakti or feminine aspect of the cosmic life force, which is personified as a consort to Lord Shiva. Bhairavi is a powerful raag filled with devotion and compassion. Bhairavi is actually performed early in the morning in a peaceful, serious and ocassionally sad mood. Traditionally it is rendered as the last item of a program, for its unique fullness of sentiments as well as its wide scope of the tonal combinations. Pictorially, Bhairavi is represented in female form, as the wife of Bhairav.
Raags in Bhairavi Thaat : Malkauns, Bilaskhani Todi, Bhupali Todi, Kaunsi Kanada etc.
6. Bhairav thaat:
Bhairav thaat raags make use of Komal Rishabh and Komal Dhaivat. Bhairav is one of the names of Lord Shiva especially in his powerful form as a naked ascetic with matted locks and body smeared with ashes. The raag too has some of these masculine and scetic attributes in its form and compositions. The raag itself is extremely vast and allows a huge number of note combinations and a great range of emotional qualities from valor to peace. You can see a lot of variations on raag Bhairav including (but not restricted to) Ahir Bhairav, Alam Bhairav, Anand Bhairav, Bairagi Bhairav, Beehad Bhairav, Bhavmat Bhairav, Devata Bhairav, Gauri Bhairav, Nat Bhairav, Shivmat Bhairav. This raag is usually performed in a devotional mood in the early morning hours. The vibrations of the notes in Bhairav is said to clear one's whole mind. The pictorial depictions of raag Bhairav in the ancient texts are austere as well as awe-inspiring.
Raags in Bhairav Thaat : Ramkali, Gunkari, Meghranjani, Jogiya, Bhairav and its variations etc.
7. Kalyan thaat:
Kalyan thaat consists of a important group of evening raags. Characterized by the teevra Madhyam, this thaat literally means good luck. It is considered to be a blessing-seeking and soothing raag. As a result, it is performed in the evening at the beginning of a concert. This raag creates a feeling of the unfolding of an evening. This thaat is huge and consists of many variations on the basic kalyan thaat including raags (but not restricted to) like Shuddha Kalyan, Shyam Kalyan, Yaman Kalyan, Anandi Kalyan, Khem Kalyan (Haunsdhwani + Yaman), Savani Kalyan etc.
Raags in Kalyan Thaat : Yaman, Bhupali, Hindol, Kedar, Kamod, etc.
8. Marwa thaat:
Marwa thaat is obtained by adding a komal Rishabh to Kalyan thaat. The mood of the Marwa family raags is strongly and easily recognizable. The Shadja remains in the form of a shadow till the very end, where it almost comes as a surprise. komal Rishabh and shuddha Dhaivat are ver important. The overall mood of this raag is of sunset where the night approaches much faster than in northern latitudes. The onrushing darkness awakens in many observers, a feeling of anxiety and solemn expectation.
Raags in Marwa Thaat : Marwa, Puriya, Bhatiyaar, Bibhas, Sohoni etc.
9. Poorvi thaat:
Poorvi thaat adds a komal Dhaivat to Marwa thaat. These thaat raags usually feature komal Rishabh, shuddha Gandhar and Shuddha Nishad along with teevra Madhyam, the note which distinguishes evening from the morning raags (dawn and sunset). The thaat raag Poorvi is deeply serious quite and mysterious in character and is performed at the time of sunset. Pictorial depictions in early texts, often mention the poise, grace and charm of Poorvi.
Raags in Poorvi Thaat : Puriya Dhanashree, Gauri, Shree, Paraj, Basant etc.
10. Todi thaat :
Todi is the king of all thaats. Todi pictures nearly always show a petite, beautiful woman, holding veena, with a deer around her, standing in a lovely, lush green forest. Todi represents the mood of delighted adoration with a gentle, loving sentiment and its traditionally performed in the late morning.
Raags in Todi Thaat : Miyan Ki Todi, Gujari Todi, Madhuvanti, Multani etc.
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