Sohni

Sohni is a raga in Hindustani classical music in the Marwa thaat. Alternate transliterations include Sohani and Sohini. Like Bahar, it is a small raga, with not much space for elaboration. It emotes the feel of longing, of passive sensuousness.

Technical Description

Tall, virgin, charming, her eyes like lotuses, ears clustered with celestial flowers, Sohini is a lovely form. She holds a lute and her songs are amorous

Rāga kalpa druma, p. 19^[1]

The raga is of audav-shadav nature, i.e., it has five swaras (notes) in the arohana (ascent) and six in the avarohana. Rishabh (Re) is komal (half step DOWN from natural) and Madhyam (Ma) is Tivra (half a step UP from natural), (denoted below by Re(b) and Ma#), while all other swaras are shuddha. Pancham (Pa) is not used.

Arohana: Sa Ga Ma# Dha Ni Sa.

Avarohana: Sa Ni Dha, Ga Ma# Dha Ga Ma# Ga Re(b) Sa.

Pakad: 1. Sa Ni Dha, Ga Ma# Dha Ga Ma# Ga. 2. Sa Ni Dha, Ni Dha Ga Ma#, Ga Ma#, Ga Re(b) Sa.

The vadi swara is Dha, and samvadi is Ga. The rishabh is weak, but Gandhar (Ga) is strong, unlike Marwa. It is an Uttaranga pradhan raga, with the higher notes on the saptak (octave) being used more frequently.

Samai (Time)

Raga Sohni is associated with very late night / pre-dawn, the last or eighth period of day, roughly from 3-6AM.

Further information

It is somewhat similar to Marwa and Puriya ragas in the same thaat,^[2] and also to Basant in the Poorvi thaat.

Hamsanandi is a rāgam in Carnatic music that resembles Sohni.^[3][4]

References

1. Daniélou, Alain (1968). The Rāgas of northern Indian music. Barrie and Rockliff, London. pp. 334–334. ISBN 0-214-15689-3.
2. Parrikar, Rajan (2002-02-18). "The Marwa Matrix". The South Asian Women's Forum. Archived from the original on 2009-12-16. Retrieved 16 December 2009.
3. Ragas in Carnatic music by Dr. S. Bhagyalekshmy, Pub. 1990, CBH Publications
4. Raganidhi by P. Subba Rao, Pub. 1964, The Music Academy of Madras