History & Origins
According to tradition, Raga Bilaskhani Todi was created by Bilas Khan, the son of the legendary Miyan Tansen. When Tansen died, Bilas Khan is said to have created this raga as an act of mourning: singing it continuously at his father's grave until the raga was fully formed. Whether historically accurate or not, this origin story has shaped how musicians and listeners understand the raga's character. It belongs to the Todi family but uses the Bhairavi thaat's flat notes in a way that distinguishes it from pure Todi.
The Notes of Raga Bilaskhani Todi
Raga Bilaskhani Todi is a Sampurna raga, meaning it uses sampurna notes. The ascending and descending movements of the raga are defined below. In Indian classical notation, lowercase letters indicate flattened (komal) notes, and t superscript indicates a sharpened (tivra) note.
The Characteristic Phrase (Pakad)
The pakad is the signature melodic gesture of a raga: the phrase that immediately identifies it to an experienced listener. For Raga Bilaskhani Todi, the pakad is:
Performance
Bilaskhani Todi is performed in the late morning, and its characteristic quality of sustained, searching grief is appropriate to that contemplative hour. The raga requires the musician to maintain a quality of emotional depth throughout (it does not have the dramatic peaks and valleys of some ragas; instead it sustains a single, profound emotional state. A performance of Bilaskhani Todi at its best feels like an extended moment of genuine mourning) not performance, but grief.
Spiritual Significance
The bhakti dimension of Bilaskhani Todi comes from its origin story: this is music created in loss, offered to a great soul. In the tradition, music offered to the dead (particularly to great musicians) has a special quality: it is both prayer and memorial. The raga carries this double character, and its karuna is inseparable from its devotion.
Notable Performers
- Pandit Bhimsen Joshi
- Mallikarjun Mansur
- Ustad Amir Khan
- Kesarbai Kerkar
Famous Compositions
- Compositions attributed to Bilas Khan
- Dhrupad compositions in the Senia gharana tradition