SohiniOne note apart
- Sohini uses Komal Re, which Hindol avoids.
- Sohini uses a different number of notes going up than coming down; the other is more symmetrical.
- They belong to different times: Hindol is sung in the morning, Sohini in the pre-dawn.
Hindustani raga
Hindol
Spring raga omitting Re and Pa.
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- Thaat
- Kalyan
- Jati
- Audava–Audava
- Notes
- 5 of 12
- Movement
- Vakra (zig-zag)
- Time
- Morning
- Rasa
- Shringar
- Vadi (main note)
- Dha (D)
- Samvadi (second note)
- Ga (G)
Your guide to Hindol
New to classical music — moods, stories, film songs and simple listening.
Start listening
Press play to hear the notes of Hindol, rising then falling.
Its mood
Shringar. Traditionally heard at morning.
Film songs you may know ↓New to classical music?
Hindol, explained simply
Think of a raga as more than a scale: a set of rules and a personality. Hindol 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
Hindol sounds bright but dreamy and floating. The raised Ma gives a shimmering, slightly unresolved glow. Its emotional colour is love and beauty, sometimes the sweet ache of missing someone. 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. Hindol never uses Re or Pa, so the melody seems to skip over certain steps. This "missing note" sound is one of the quickest giveaways.
- It uses only five notes, like many folk tunes around the world, so it sounds simple, singable and open.
- 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.
- 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.
- Notice which note the musician keeps returning to and resting on: in Hindol that's D, with G as its partner. These are the raga's "home base" notes after Sa.
Its beauty
Spring raga omitting Re and Pa. The beauty of Hindol 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, Alankari (Carnatic) and Sunadavinodini (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 Re. Once you catch it, you've started to recognise Hindol.
History & evolution
Origin
Hindol is one of the six primary ragas of medieval Indian treatises, linked to the swing (hindola) festival of spring.
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). Hindol is classified under Kalyan 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) · 5 notes
S G M# D N D S'
- Devanagari
- सा ग म॑ ध नि ध सा•
- Bengali
- সা গা মা॑ ধা নি ধা সা•
Avarohana (descent) · 5 notes
S' N D M# G S
- Devanagari
- सा• नि ध म॑ ग सा
- Bengali
- সা• নি ধা মা॑ গা 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 |
| Shuddh Ga | Major 3rd | E |
| Tivra Ma | Augmented 4th | F# |
| Shuddh Dha | Major 6th | A |
| Shuddh Ni | Major 7th | B |
Omitted (varjya) swaras: Re, Pa.
Character
Jati (Audava–Audava). The ascent uses 5 distinct notes and the descent 5. 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. Kalyan thaat: Tivra Ma, all others shuddh. Equivalent to the Lydian mode and Carnatic Kalyani.
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. G is the minister, the second most important note.
Shringar
Romance and beauty, including love in union (sambhoga) and longing in separation (viraha).
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?
Hindol 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.
- 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 Hindol, and how to tell them apart.
Sohani BhatiyarOne note apart
- Sohani Bhatiyar uses Komal Re, which Hindol avoids.
- Sohani Bhatiyar uses a different number of notes going up than coming down; the other is more symmetrical.
- They belong to different times: Hindol is sung in the morning, Sohani Bhatiyar in the dawn.
MarwaOne note apart
- Marwa uses Komal Re, which Hindol avoids.
- The most important note differs: Hindol centres on D, Marwa on r.
- They belong to different times: Hindol is sung in the morning, Marwa in the sunset.
- Mood: Hindol leans shringar, Marwa leans restlessness.
PuriyaOne note apart
- Puriya uses Komal Re, which Hindol avoids.
- The most important note differs: Hindol centres on D, Puriya on G.
- They belong to different times: Hindol is sung in the morning, Puriya in the sunset.
- Mood: Hindol leans shringar, Puriya leans shanta.
PanchamOne note apart
- Pancham uses Komal Re, which Hindol avoids.
- They belong to different times: Hindol is sung in the morning, Pancham in the sunset.
- Mood: Hindol leans shringar, Pancham leans karuna.
YamanTwo notes apart
- Yaman uses Shuddh Re and Pa, which Hindol avoids.
- Yaman uses a different number of notes going up than coming down; the other is more symmetrical.
- The most important note differs: Hindol centres on D, Yaman on G.
- They belong to different times: Hindol is sung in the morning, Yaman in the early night.
Linked ragas & variants
Ragas from the same family or named after Hindol, such as Yaman and Yaman Kalyan. They are related but each has its own rules.
Other ragas from Kalyan
Yaman · HindustaniKedar · HindustaniHameer · HindustaniBhupali · HindustaniShuddh Sarang · HindustaniShuddh Kalyan · HindustaniGaud Sarang · HindustaniChhayanat · HindustaniKamod · HindustaniAmritvarshini · HindustaniMalashree · HindustaniSaraswati · HindustaniHindol Bahar · HindustaniKedar Bahar · HindustaniChandni Kedar · HindustaniDhanakoni Kalyan · HindustaniShri Kalyan · HindustaniYaman Kalyan · HindustaniHem Kalyan · HindustaniSavani Kalyan · HindustaniJaimini Kalyan · HindustaniMaru Bihag · HindustaniNand · HindustaniShyam Kalyan · Hindustani
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, …).