PunnagavaraliSame notes
- Both use exactly the same notes, so the difference lies in how they move and which notes they dwell on.
- They belong to different times: Todi is sung in the morning, Punnagavarali in the any time.
Carnatic raga
Todi
One of the most challenging and revered Carnatic ragas, rich in gamakas. Equivalent scale to Hindustani Bhairavi.
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- Melakarta
- 8 Hanumatodi
- Jati
- Sampurna–Sampurna
- Notes
- 7 of 12
- Movement
- Vakra (zig-zag)
- Time
- Morning
- Rasa
- Karuna, Bhakti
Your guide to Todi
New to classical music — moods, stories, film songs and simple listening.
Start listening
Press play to hear the notes of Todi, rising then falling.
Its mood
Karuna, Bhakti. Traditionally heard at morning.
Film songs you may know ↓New to classical music?
Todi, explained simply
Think of a raga as more than a scale: a set of rules and a personality. Todi has its own notes, its own favourite phrases, its own time of day and its own mood, the way a person has a recognisable voice and way of talking.
How it feels
Todi sounds dark, deep and inward, full of the lowered (komal) notes that make music sound serious or sad. Its emotional colour is tenderness and sorrow, the feeling of a sad song that still comforts you; and prayer and devotion, like music in a temple. Traditionally it is traditionally performed in the morning, because Indian musicians believe each raga matches the feeling of a certain hour or season.
How to recognise it
- It uses komal (flat) Re, the note just above the home note. Sliding off Sa onto this very close note creates tension right at the start of phrases.
- The melody zig-zags instead of climbing straight up a ladder. It takes little turns and steps back before moving on, which gives it a winding, conversational shape.
- Hum the scale along with the play button above a few times. Once the shape of those notes is in your ear, you'll start spotting it in songs and concerts.
Its beauty
One of the most challenging and revered Carnatic ragas, rich in gamakas. Equivalent scale to Hindustani Bhairavi. The beauty of Todi comes from patience: a good performer doesn't rush through the scale but lingers, bending into notes and letting each phrase breathe, so the mood builds slowly until it fills the room.
What makes it different
- Punnagavarali, Janatodi, Bhadratodi use the very same notes. Ragas aren't just scales: the difference lies in which notes are stressed, which phrases are used and how the melody moves. That's why two ragas built from the same notes can feel completely different.
- Across the North–South divide, Bhairavi (Hindustani) and Lachari Todi (Hindustani) uses the same notes. Listening to both side by side shows how the two traditions shape the same material differently.
- In Carnatic music, notes are rarely held still. They wobble, slide and bend (called gamakas), and those shakes are as much a part of the raga's identity as the notes themselves.
Listening exercise: Try this: press "Full scale" above, then open one of the recordings below. In the first few minutes, see if you can hear the melody circling back to Sa. Once you catch it, you've started to recognise Todi.
History & evolution
Origin
One of the oldest and weightiest Carnatic ragas. It became melakarta 8 (Hanumatodi), and Tyagaraja alone composed around 30 kritis in it.
The 72-melakarta system was devised by Venkatamakhin in his treatise Chaturdandi Prakasika (c. 1660). It is a mathematical grid that lists every possible seven-note scale built from Carnatic swara variants.
The melakarta names used today, encoded with the Katapayadi system so each name reveals its number, were standardised later by Govindacharya in the 18th century. Many melakartas existed only on paper until composers like Muthuswami Dikshitar and later Koteeswara Iyer wrote pieces in all 72.
The Carnatic Trinity of the 18th–19th centuries (Tyagaraja, Muthuswami Dikshitar and Syama Sastri) gave lasting shape to most popular ragas through their compositions. Their kritis remain the standard reference for how each raga should move.
Looking for more history…
Scale
Arohana (ascent) · 7 notes
S R1 G2 M1 P D1 N2 S
- Devanagari
- स रि₁ ग₂ म₁ प ध₁ नि₂ स
- Tamil
- ஸ ரி₁ க₂ ம₁ ப த₁ நி₂ ஸ
- Telugu
- స రి₁ గ₂ మ₁ ప ద₁ ని₂ స
- Kannada
- ಸ ರಿ₁ ಗ₂ ಮ₁ ಪ ದ₁ ನಿ₂ ಸ
Avarohana (descent) · 7 notes
S N2 D1 P M1 G2 R1 S
- Devanagari
- स नि₂ ध₁ प म₁ ग₂ रि₁ स
- Tamil
- ஸ நி₂ த₁ ப ம₁ க₂ ரி₁ ஸ
- Telugu
- స ని₂ ద₁ ప మ₁ గ₂ రి₁ స
- Kannada
- ಸ ನಿ₂ ದ₁ ಪ ಮ₁ ಗ₂ ರಿ₁ ಸ
Synthesised with Sa = A3. A real performance uses gamakas, meends and phrasing that a bare scale can't capture.
Notes on the octave
S
C
r
C#
R
D
g
D#
G
E
M
F
M#
F#
P
G
d
G#
D
A
n
A#
N
B
| Swara | Interval from Sa | Western (Sa = C) |
|---|---|---|
| Shadjam | Unison | C |
| Shuddha Rishabham (R1) | Minor 2nd | C# |
| Shatshruti Rishabham (R3) / Sadharana Gandharam (G2) | Minor 3rd | D# |
| Shuddha Madhyamam (M1) | Perfect 4th | F |
| Panchamam | Perfect 5th | G |
| Shuddha Dhaivatam (D1) | Minor 6th | G# |
| Shatshruti Dhaivatam (D3) / Kaishiki Nishadam (N2) | Minor 7th | A# |
Character
Jati (Sampurna–Sampurna). The ascent uses 7 distinct notes and the descent 7. Audava = 5, Shadava = 6, Sampurna = 7.
Vakra (zig-zag) movement. The scale doubles back on itself, so phrases have to follow its characteristic turns, not run straight up or down.
Parent scale. Melakarta 8 sits in chakra 2 of 12 and uses shuddha madhyamam (M1). Todi is a parent (melakarta) scale with all seven notes in strict order.
Time (Morning). Sung in the morning prahars (roughly 7 AM–noon). Morning ragas often stress the lower tetrachord (purvanga).
Karuna
Compassion, pathos and sorrow.
Bhakti
Devotion and surrender to the divine.
Notable compositions
- Kaddanu variki (Tyagaraja)
- Emi jesitenemi
Listen
Each link opens a YouTube or Spotify search for this raga by the instrument or artist.
Vocal
Flute (Venu)
Veena
Violin
Nadaswaram
Same notes in Hindustani music
These ragas use exactly the same notes, though their phrasing and ornaments differ.
Ragas with the same notes
Same notes, but a different character because of emphasis, movement and phrasing.
Why this time of day?
Todi is associated with: Morning.
- In Carnatic music, the time of day is a gentle custom rather than a strict rule. Most ragas can be sung at any concert, and the time linked to a raga usually comes from temple rituals and old practice.
- Todi is linked with the morning because of its use in early temple worship (like the Suprabhatam waking songs) and its calm, devotional feel.
Close ragas & how they differ
Ragas that sound most like Todi, and how to tell them apart.
JanatodiSame notes
- Both use exactly the same notes, so the difference lies in how they move and which notes they dwell on.
- They belong to different times: Todi is sung in the morning, Janatodi in the any time.
- Mood: Todi leans karuna, bhakti, Janatodi leans varied.
NagavaraliSame notes
- Both use exactly the same notes, so the difference lies in how they move and which notes they dwell on.
- They belong to different times: Todi is sung in the morning, Nagavarali in the any time.
- Mood: Todi leans karuna, bhakti, Nagavarali leans varied.
DeshikatodiSame notes
- Both use exactly the same notes, so the difference lies in how they move and which notes they dwell on.
- Going up: Todi climbs S R1 G2 M1 P D1 N2 S, while Deshikatodi climbs S G2 M1 P D1 N2 S'.
- Deshikatodi uses a different number of notes going up than coming down; the other is more symmetrical.
- They belong to different times: Todi is sung in the morning, Deshikatodi in the any time.
- Mood: Todi leans karuna, bhakti, Deshikatodi leans varied.
ShravanamallikaSame notes
- Both use exactly the same notes, so the difference lies in how they move and which notes they dwell on.
- Going up: Todi climbs S R1 G2 M1 P D1 N2 S, while Shravanamallika climbs S G2 M1 P D1 N2 S'.
- Shravanamallika uses a different number of notes going up than coming down; the other is more symmetrical.
- They belong to different times: Todi is sung in the morning, Shravanamallika in the any time.
- Mood: Todi leans karuna, bhakti, Shravanamallika leans varied.
DeshyathodiSame notes
- Both use exactly the same notes, so the difference lies in how they move and which notes they dwell on.
- Going up: Todi climbs S R1 G2 M1 P D1 N2 S, while Deshyathodi climbs S G2 M1 P D1 N2 S'.
- Deshyathodi uses a different number of notes going up than coming down; the other is more symmetrical.
- They belong to different times: Todi is sung in the morning, Deshyathodi in the any time.
- Mood: Todi leans karuna, bhakti, Deshyathodi leans varied.
Linked ragas & variants
Ragas from the same family or named after Todi, such as Yaman and Yaman Kalyan. They are related but each has its own rules.
Other ragas from 8 Hanumatodi
Asaveri · CarnaticPunnagavarali · CarnaticJanatodi · CarnaticAhiri · CarnaticAmrita Dhanyasi · CarnaticBhanuchandrika · CarnaticBhadratodi · CarnaticChandrikatodi · CarnaticDeshikatodi · CarnaticDhanyasi · CarnaticDivyamalati · CarnaticGhanta · CarnaticKalasaveri · CarnaticKanakasaveri · CarnaticNagavarali · CarnaticPrabhupriya · CarnaticPunnagatodi · CarnaticShravanamallika · CarnaticSowjanya · CarnaticShuddha Seemantini · CarnaticShuddha Todi · CarnaticSwarnamalli · Carnatic
Film songs in this raga
Bollywood (Hindi)
No well-known Hindi film song is confidently attributed to this raga yet.
Other Indian films (Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Bengali, Marathi)
No regional film song is confidently attributed to this raga yet.
Top Bollywood songTop Tamil songTop Telugu songTop Malayalam songTop Kannada songTop Bengali songTop Marathi song
Film songs often take liberties with a raga, so treat these as "based on" rather than strict renditions.
Discussion
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Notation: Hindustani komal notes are lowercase (r g d n), M# = tivra Ma, ' = upper octave. Carnatic numbers mark swara variants (R1, G3, …).