Pandit Ram Kumar and Samit Mallick | Raag Bhimpalasi
Filmed on location
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5m 36s
Recorded for Darbar Festival in 2016, on location in Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
Musicians:
- Ram Kumar Mallick (dhrupad vocal)
- Samit Mallick (dhrupad vocal)
Raag Bhimpalasi; Thaat: Kafi; Samay: Afternoon
It is said that the ancestors of the Mallick family, Darbhanga court musicians, once ended a drought in the area through singing the rain-bringing Raag Megh.
Pandit Ramkumar and Samit Mallick are leading exponents of the Darbhanga dhrupad court music tradition, named for a former state near the Nepalese border. It is said that their ancestors once ended a drought in the area through singing the rain-bringing Raag Megh, and the family still live on land gifted to them by the Maharajah as a result. Their style of dhrupad is marked by intricate rhythmic elaboration and a lively approach to composed forms, as well as strong poetic influence.
Bhimpalasi is an afternoon raga, said to evoke sringara [attraction, romantic love]. It uses the notes of Kafi thaat, with an aroha [ascent] of nSgmPnS and an avroh [descent] of SnDPmgRS. Characteristically, Dha and Re only appear in the descending line, and tend to be approached from the notes immediately above. Ma is the vadi [king note]. It is similar in shape to the Western Dorian mode, and the closest Carnatic raga is Abheri.
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