TodiOne note apart
- Todi uses Pa, which Gurjari Todi avoids.
- They belong to different times: Gurjari Todi is sung in the morning, Todi in the late morning.
Hindustani raga
Gurjari Todi
Todi without Pa.
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- Thaat
- Todi
- Jati
- Shadava–Shadava
- Notes
- 6 of 12
- Movement
- Krama (straight)
- Time
- Morning
- Rasa
- Karuna
- Vadi (main note)
- Komal Dha (d)
- Samvadi (second note)
- Komal Re (r)
Your guide to Gurjari Todi
New to classical music — moods, stories, film songs and simple listening.
Start listening
Press play to hear the notes of Gurjari Todi, rising then falling.
Its mood
Karuna. Traditionally heard at morning.
Film songs you may know ↓New to classical music?
Gurjari Todi, explained simply
Think of a raga as more than a scale: a set of rules and a personality. Gurjari 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
Gurjari 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. 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
- Listen for the gaps. Gurjari Todi never uses Pa, so the melody seems to skip over certain steps. This "missing note" sound is one of the quickest giveaways.
- It uses tivra (sharp) Ma, a note a little higher than you'd expect. It gives the music a lifting, yearning quality, as if it's leaning upward.
- 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.
- Notice which note the musician keeps returning to and resting on: in Gurjari Todi that's d, with r as its partner. These are the raga's "home base" notes after Sa.
Its beauty
Todi without Pa. The beauty of Gurjari 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
- Across the North–South divide, Kumudhachandrika (Carnatic) and Shekharachandrika (Carnatic) uses the same notes. Listening to both side by side shows how the two traditions shape the same material differently.
- In Hindustani music, a raga usually unfolds slowly. The performance often begins with a long, beat-less exploration (alaap) where the musician reveals the raga one note at a time.
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 missing Pa. Once you catch it, you've started to recognise Gurjari Todi.
History & evolution
Hindustani ragas mostly developed through oral tradition, passed guru to disciple. Medieval treatises such as Sangita Ratnakara (13th c.) and the later Raga-Ragini systems grouped them into 'families'.
In the early 20th century, V. N. Bhatkhande organised Hindustani ragas into ten thaats (parent scales). Gurjari Todi is classified under Todi thaat. The thaat is a modern classification, not necessarily the raga's historical origin.
Each gharana (school) interprets ragas slightly differently, so a raga's phrasing has kept evolving through the 19th and 20th centuries, and further through recordings and radio.
Looking for more history…
Scale
Arohana (ascent) · 6 notes
S r g M# d N S'
- Devanagari
- सा रे̱ ग̱ म॑ ध̱ नि सा•
- Bengali
- সা রে̱ গা̱ মা॑ ধা̱ নি সা•
Avarohana (descent) · 6 notes
S' N d M# g r S
- Devanagari
- सा• नि ध̱ म॑ ग̱ रे̱ सा
- Bengali
- সা• নি ধা̱ মা॑ গা̱ রে̱ সা
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) |
|---|---|---|
| Sa | Unison | C |
| Komal Re | Minor 2nd | C# |
| Komal Ga | Minor 3rd | D# |
| Tivra Ma | Augmented 4th | F# |
| Komal Dha | Minor 6th | G# |
| Shuddh Ni | Major 7th | B |
Omitted (varjya) swaras: Pa.
Character
Jati (Shadava–Shadava). The ascent uses 6 distinct notes and the descent 6. Audava = 5, Shadava = 6, Sampurna = 7.
Krama (straight) movement. Notes are taken in order going up and coming down.
Parent scale. Todi thaat: Komal Re, Ga, Dha with tivra Ma. Equivalent to Carnatic Shubhapantuvarali.
Time (Morning). Sung in the morning prahars (roughly 7 AM–noon). Morning ragas often stress the lower tetrachord (purvanga).
Vadi and samvadi. d is the king note, the most emphasised and returned to. r is the minister, the second most important note.
Karuna
Compassion, pathos and sorrow.
Listen
Each link opens a YouTube or Spotify search for this raga by the instrument or artist.
Vocal
Flute (Bansuri)
Sitar
Sarod
Same notes in Carnatic music
These ragas use exactly the same notes, though their phrasing and ornaments differ.
Why this time of day?
Gurjari Todi is traditionally sung: Morning.
- Hindustani music follows the samay chakra, a 'clock of ragas'. Musicians noticed over centuries that certain combinations of notes match the feeling of certain hours, and teachers passed these timings on as a rule.
- Flat Re and flat Dha give a serious, prayerful sound that suits the stillness of early morning, when people traditionally meditate and pray.
- Its most important note (d) sits in the upper half of the scale (uttaranga). By tradition, ragas centred in the upper half are sung from midnight to noon.
- These are traditions, not physics. Today, recordings and concert schedules mean ragas are often heard at other times, but many musicians still honour the samay chakra.
Close ragas & how they differ
Ragas that sound most like Gurjari Todi, and how to tell them apart.
Komal Rishabh TodiOne note apart
- Komal Rishabh Todi uses Pa, which Gurjari Todi avoids.
MultaniOne note apart
- Multani uses Pa, which Gurjari Todi avoids.
- Multani uses a different number of notes going up than coming down; the other is more symmetrical.
- The most important note differs: Gurjari Todi centres on d, Multani on P.
- They belong to different times: Gurjari Todi is sung in the morning, Multani in the afternoon.
Puriya DhanashreeClose cousin
- Gurjari Todi uses Komal Ga, which Puriya Dhanashree does not.
- Puriya Dhanashree uses Shuddh Ga and Pa, which Gurjari Todi avoids.
- The most important note differs: Gurjari Todi centres on d, Puriya Dhanashree on P.
- They belong to different times: Gurjari Todi is sung in the morning, Puriya Dhanashree in the sunset.
LalitClose cousin
- Gurjari Todi uses Komal Ga, which Lalit does not.
- Lalit uses Shuddh Ga and Shuddh Ma, which Gurjari Todi avoids.
- The most important note differs: Gurjari Todi centres on d, Lalit on M.
- They belong to different times: Gurjari Todi is sung in the morning, Lalit in the pre-dawn.
ShreeClose cousin
- Gurjari Todi uses Komal Ga, which Shree does not.
- Shree uses Shuddh Ga and Pa, which Gurjari Todi avoids.
- Shree uses a different number of notes going up than coming down; the other is more symmetrical.
- The most important note differs: Gurjari Todi centres on d, Shree on r.
- They belong to different times: Gurjari Todi is sung in the morning, Shree in the sunset.
- Mood: Gurjari Todi leans karuna, Shree leans bhakti.
Linked ragas & variants
Ragas from the same family or named after Gurjari Todi, such as Yaman and Yaman Kalyan. They are related but each has its own rules.
Other ragas from Todi
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, …).