Hindustani raga
A pentatonic raga with no Re or Pa; deep, meditative, and powerful.
Your guide to Malkauns
New to classical music — moods, stories, film songs and simple listening.
Press play to hear the notes of Malkauns, rising then falling.
Veera, Shanta. Traditionally heard at late night.
Film songs you may know ↓New to classical music?
Think of a raga as more than a scale: a set of rules and a personality. Malkauns 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.
Malkauns sounds dark, deep and inward, full of the lowered (komal) notes that make music sound serious or sad. Its emotional colour is courage and strength, bold and confident; and calm and stillness, like sitting quietly by a lake. Traditionally it is traditionally performed in the late night, because Indian musicians believe each raga matches the feeling of a certain hour or season.
A pentatonic raga with no Re or Pa; deep, meditative, and powerful. The beauty of Malkauns 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.
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 Malkauns.
Origin
Malkauns is the Hindustani descendant of the ancient Malava-Kaishika, listed among the primary ragas in medieval treatises. It is the same scale as Carnatic Hindolam.
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). Malkauns is classified under Bhairavi 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…
Arohana (ascent) · 5 notes
S g M d n S'
Avarohana (descent) · 5 notes
S' n d M g S
Synthesised with Sa = A3. A real performance uses gamakas, meends and phrasing that a bare scale can't capture.
| Swara | Interval from Sa | Western (Sa = C) |
|---|---|---|
| Sa | Unison | C |
| Komal Ga | Minor 3rd | D# |
| Shuddh Ma | Perfect 4th | F |
| Komal Dha | Minor 6th | G# |
| Komal Ni | Minor 7th | A# |
Omitted (varjya) swaras: Re, Pa.
Jati (Audava–Audava). The ascent uses 5 distinct notes and the descent 5. Audava = 5, Shadava = 6, Sampurna = 7.
Krama (straight) movement. Notes are taken in order going up and coming down.
Parent scale. Bhairavi thaat: Komal Re, Ga, Dha and Ni. Equivalent to the Phrygian mode and Carnatic Hanumatodi.
Time (Late night). Sung during the night prahars (roughly 9 PM–3 AM). Night ragas often stress the upper tetrachord (uttaranga).
Vadi and samvadi. M is the king note, the most emphasised and returned to. S is the minister, the second most important note.
Veera
Heroism, courage and vigour.
Shanta
Peace, tranquility and detachment.
Each link opens a YouTube or Spotify search for this raga by the instrument or artist.
These ragas use exactly the same notes, though their phrasing and ornaments differ.
Malkauns is traditionally sung: Late night.
Ragas that sound most like Malkauns, and how to tell them apart.
Ragas from the same family or named after Malkauns, such as Yaman and Yaman Kalyan. They are related but each has its own rules.
Man tarpat hari darshan ko aaj
Baiju Bawra (1952)
Aadha hai chandrama raat aadhi
Navrang (1959)
Pag ghunghroo bandh Meera nachi thi
Namak Halaal (1982)
These songs are in Hindolam, the Carnatic counterpart of Malkauns.
Om namah shivaya
Telugu · Sagara Sangamam (1983)
Samaja vara gamana
Telugu · Sankarabharanam (1980)
Film songs often take liberties with a raga, so treat these as "based on" rather than strict renditions.
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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, …).