Sitar maestro Budhaditya Mukherjee’s spectacular rendition of the rain-bringing Raag Miyan Ki Malhar, live from an Indian thunderstorm. Full story in the description below.

0:00 | storm
0:36 | alap
1:00 | vilambit gat
8:53 | drut gat
12:10 | ati drut gat

Nature takes pity on us and orchestrates the most magnificent light show we have ever witnessed, illuminating the courtyard for us. We exchange incredulous glances as we bear witness to one of the most magical moments we have ever experienced.

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Budhaditya Mukherjee is revered for his extraordinary command of the sitar and surbahar - at age 22 veena maestro S Balachander described him as the ‘sitar artist of the century’. He first started learning from his father Bimalendu, and takes strong influence from Vilayat Khan. He is among India’s most respected sitar gurus, and has held academic positions in Europe. Today he tours the world, enrapturing audiences of newcomers and old connoisseurs alike.

The Malhar family of ragas are associated with rejuvenation, heroism, and growth, and are said to summon monsoon rains if sung correctly. Legend has it that Emperor Akbar once asked Miyan Tansen to sing Deepak, the light-bringing raga, which caused all the lamps near him to ignite and burn so brightly that Tansen’s body began to be scorched. He went to the river to cool himself, but the water started to boil around him, forcing him to set out on a search for someone who could sing Raag Malhar to cure him. He eventually met two sisters, Tana and Riri, whose evocation of the raga caused a great storm to break, finally cooling him.

Recorded by Darbar in 2017, on location at The Rajbari Bawali, India:
- Budhaditya Mukherjee (sitar)
- Soumen Nandy (tabla)

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