Raagas associated with Vasant [Springtime]

See the Master List of All
Raagas Associated with
All the Seasons Here:

A Raag for Each Season

The Basics of the Raag-Season Connect

1. Music can evoke strong emotions – most of us have been moved to tears at times or experienced sheer bliss at others, perhaps wondering at the emotional connection!
2. Raagas have always been associated with seasons – festivals celebrating harvests, solstices, regional deities etc. were always accompanied by song and dance, creating strong associations between music and season. Even till date, many Music Festivals are organized around these seasons – e.g. ‘Vasantotsavas’, the festivals of spring.
3. The following Six seasons have been classically described:
   1. Vasant / Basant बसंत
   2. Greeshm ग्रीष्म
   3. Varsha वर्षा
   4. Sharad शरद 
   5. Hemant हेमंत 
   6. Shishir शिशिर
4. Historically, six fundamental raags have been considered to be representative of the six primary seasons.
5. Every ‘Ayana’ has 3 seasons, so both Uttarayana and Dakshinayana have 3 seasons each.

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Vasant (Spring) – (Chaitra and Vaishakha) -19th Feb to 19th April

1. Raag Basant
2. Raag Bahar: Another Raag that brings to mind the gentle warmth of late spring.
3. Raag Basant-Bahar
4. Raag Hindol
5. Raag Hindol Basant
6. Raag Hindol Hem: it is played in the Spring and Fall seasons [Hindol tends to Spring and Hemant to Prewinter].
7. Raag Deepak is also said to be sung in the hours of darkness of the Spring season.
8. Raag Sohini
9. Raag Bhinna Shadaj [also known as Kaushik Dhvani]

Bhinna Shadaj & Springtime

It is very close to Raag Hemant [differs only in little details], so it is said to be appropriate for the pre-winter season, like raag Hemant. The Bandishes in Bhinna Shadaj referring to Spring might be related to the fact that it belongs to the raagang of Hindol, which itself is the trademark Raag of Springtime. Here is a bandish in Bhinna Shadaj describing springtime:

bolana laagi koyaliyaa
Daara Daara paata paata
nava kaliyana khila jaata
ata umaMgata moraa jiyaa |
aayee hai basaMta ritoo
naachata mora papihaa bole
sarasaraMga ne mana mohaliyaa ||

The cuckoo bird is singing. On every branch and leaf of the tree there are new flowers blossoming and it makes me feel very happy.

The spring season is here, the peacocks are dancing and cuckoo birds are singing, all the beautiful colors of the spring have mesmerized me.

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Also Read:
The Connect between Western Classical Music and Seasons

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More on Indian Classical Music:
The Alchemy of Indian Classical Music

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