Recorded at Darbar Festival 2016, on 18th September at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London.

Musicians:
- Shubha Mudgal (khayal)
- Aneesh Pradhan (tabla)
- Sudhir Nayak (harmonium)
- Priya Sharma & Seetal Dhadyalla (tanpuras)

Raag Shyam Kalyan; Thaat: Kalyan; Samay: Evening

In this video from 2016, Shubha Mudgal performs a bandish in Raag Shyam Kalyan set to madhyalay Ektaal that accelerates to a faster pace towards the end. ‘Bela Sanjh Ki Sughara Suhavno Bhayo Ri Ali’ which translates to ‘what a beautiful evening has arrived today,’ is another composition by her guru Ramashreya Jha. Known particularly for his strict adherence to lyrics and the way it is entwined with a raga and rhythmic cycle, the composition carves an image using Lord Krishna as a metaphor for a beautiful evening and the devotee’s surrender to the Lord by embracing its beauty.

Mudgal’s portrayal of the raga is contained and deeply textured in steady, resonant notes and moments of rapture. Her unpretentious, soft and devotion-tinged interpretation of Shyam Kalyan stands true to the vast and eclectic array of training she has received from her gurus.

Sudhir Nayak gives her a soothing support on the harmonium while Aneesh Pradhan captures each piece in its essence with incisive tabla accompaniment.

Grouped under Kalyan thaat, Shyam Kalyan is a popular raga known for its meandering gait. Its jati is audav-sampurna, that is, it uses five notes in its ascent and seven in its descent. It deploys both shudh and teevra Ma (pure and sharp 4th), rest of the swars are shuddh or pure. The vadi swar or dominant note is Sa and the samvadi swar is teevra Ma while according to some scholars, these are Re and Pa respectively. Its arohana and avarohana are as follows:

S R m P N S’

S’N D P, m P, MR, G N. S The missing Dha in the ascent and the application of both Ma with deviously applied Ga make this raga very interesting. Since this raga has shades of Hameer, Kedar, Gaud Sarang and Kamod, many believe that this is a blend of all these ragas. As such, its complex movements demand careful handling. The mood of this raga is essentially romantic.