Purvi Raag Description
Purvi, sometimes transliterated as Poorvi is a Thaat raga; that is, its notes represent the material of a whole family of North Indian ragas. Purvi has a deeply serious, quiet and somewhat mystical character. It is uncommon in performances today. This raga derives from Poorvi parental scale or Thaat. The second and the sixth notes i.e. Re and Dha are Komal or Flat in this raga while the fourth note Ma is Tivra or sharp and the third and seventh notes
Ga and Ni are shuddha or sharp. The most prominent and important note is Ga which is called the Vadi Swar and the supporting Samvadi is the Seventh note “Ni”. This raga is known as “Sandhiprakash Raga” i.e. it is performed in the evening at sunset time. The entire peculiarity of this raga rests on the notes Sa, Ga, Pa and Ni during improvisation. It has a serious character. In north India some musicians rarely use either sharp “Dha” or both flat and sharp “Dha”. But such varieties are hardly sung now a days.
Organization & Relationships
Thaat: Purvi is the main raga of Purvi Thaat.
Rasa
Raga-Kalpadruma: Charming and beautiful, scantily dressed, lotus-eyed Puravi appears at the end of the day. Idle and sleepy, she suffers from the pangs of separation and dreams only of her lover.
Cattvarimsacchata-Raga-Nirupanam:Master of archery, seated on an elephant and dressed in white, Purvika has a splendid body and is served by all the different varnas.
Raga-Sagara:I remember Purvika dressed in a garment woven with threads of gold. Fair and charming like the moon, she holds a cup of wine and a parrot in her hands and she is served by woman who are graceful and lively like the young deer. The head of her lover rests in her lap.
Historical Information
Poorvi is an old traditional raga, which originated in the eastern part of India. Its ancient precursor Purvagauda had a similar scale to modern Bhairav (S r G m P d N). Poorvi itself does not appear in the literature before the 16th century.
| Thaat | Poorvi |
|---|---|
| Vaadi/Samvaadi | G/N |
| Prahar | 4 (3 pm - 6 pm) |
| Important Anuvaadi | |
| Aaroha | 'N-r-G-M-d-N-S' |
| Bhaav | Shadj-Pancham |
| Avaroha | S'-N-d-P-M-G-m-G,M-G-r-S |
| Saptak-pradhaanata | Mandra-Madhya |
| Pakad | P-d-P-M-G-m-r-G,M-G-r-S |
| Tanpura Tuning | P |
| Jaati | Shadav-Sampoorn |
| Other Characteristics | |
| Similar Raagas | |
| Popular Film Songs | |
| Non-Film Songs |