Raga Yaman

Written by Hirva Parikh

Raga Yaman, also sometimes known as Raga Kalyan, is usually one of the beginner ragas taught to students because it uses all of the 7 notes. This raga is considered to be the Janaka Raga/Ashraya Raga of the family Kalyan. This means that all other ragas in this family are derived from Yaman. In this raga, vadi is Gandhar (Ga), and samvadi is Nishad (Ni). Because all seven swaras are used in this raga, the jati is sampurna (complete).

Ma teevra and Ni are the most commonly used swaras in this raga. All swaras in the saptak (octave) are shuddha (pure) with the exception of teevra madhyam (sharp). This is sung during the first part of night, between 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. 

Aaroha: Ni. Re Ga Ma’ Dha Ni Sa

Avroha: Sa Ni Dha Pa Ma’ Ga Re Sa

Pakkad: Ni Re Ga, Ga Re Ga Ma, Ma’ Dha Pa Ma’ Ga Re, Ni Re Ga Re Ni Re Sa

The original name of this Raga is Kalyan. However, during the Mughal empire, it became known as Yaman or Eman. Hence, with two names came two madhyam prayog (different divisions). In some places, shuddha Ma is used in aroha; however, others use Ma teevra. 

Raga Yaman’s nature is serious. In this, bada khyals, chota khyals, taranas, drupads, masitkhani and razakhani are sung and played in a simple format. 

Take a listen to this raga in the voice of Ashwini Bhide Deshpandeji:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyPTH1R2DYA

Many popular songs are also set to Raga Yaman. Here are some examples:

Aaj Jaane Ki Zid Na Karo (Arijit Singh version): https://youtu.be/wGwHQYtvNRw. 

The evergreen Chandan Sa Badan by Mukesh:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_ZFtaonBPQ

Sanjay Leela Bhansali also loves using this raga in his compositions, namely Aaj Ibadat from the movie Bajirao Mastani, Ek Dil Ek Jaan from Padmaavat, and Thode Badmash from Saawariya.

References:

Sangeetanjali by Pt. Omkarnath Thakur

Raga Parichay by Harishchandra Shrivastava

Abhinava Geetanjali by Pt. Ramashraya Jha