Malhar


Malhar is a classical raga. Malhar is associated with torrential rains. Besides the basic Shuddha Malhar, which was the original Malhar, several Malhar-related ragas use the Malhar signature phrase m R R P, including Miyan ki Malhar, Megh Malhar, Ramdasi Malhar, Gaud Malhar, Sur Malhar, Desh Malhar, Nat Malhar, Dhulia Malhar and Meera ki Malhar.

Legend

According to legend, Malhar is so powerful that when sung, it can induce rainfall.
Many written accounts describe Raga Malhar. Tansen, Baiju Bawra, Baba Ramdas, Nayak Charju, Miyan Bakhshu, Tantarang, Tantras Khan, Bilas Khan, Hammer Sen, Surat Sen, and Meera Bai are among the singers who are said to have been capable of starting rains using various kinds of Raga Malhar.
Mughal emperor Akbar once asked his court musician Tansen to sing Raga Deepak, the raga of light, which caused all the lamps in the courtyard to light up and Tansen's body to become so hot that he had to sit in the nearby river to cool himself. However, the river began to boil, and it became apparent that Tansen would soon boil to death. He set out on a search to find someone who could sing Raga Malhar to cure him. In due course, he reached Vadnagar, in Gujarat, where he found two sisters, Tana and Riri, whom he asked for help. They agreed to sing. When they sang the Raga, rains came down in torrents, which cooled Tansen's body immediately.

Variations

The many variations of Raga Malhar have been categorised chronologically by era - prachina, madhyakalina and arvachina. Ragas Shuddha Malhar, Megh Malhar and Gaud Malhar belong to the first period.

In popular culture

In Bankim Chandra Chatterjee's Bengali language novel Anandamath, a band of yogis sing Vande mataram in Raga Malhar.
In Satyajit Ray's film Jalsaghar, Raga Malhar is used to link the powers of nature and the hero's internal conflict.
The song Thumbi Thullal from the movie Cobra is based on this raag. It is composed by A. R. Rahman and sung by Shreya Ghoshal & Nakul Abhyankar.