History & Origins
Multani belongs to the Todi thaat and is performed in the afternoon, slightly later than Todi itself. It retains Todi's komal Re, komal Ga, and tivra Ma but includes Pa, which Todi omits in its ascent. This makes Multani somewhat more stable: a raga of deep sadness with firmer footing.
The Notes of Raga Multani
Raga Multani is a Shadava-Sampurna raga, meaning it uses shadava-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 Multani, the pakad is:
Performance
Multani rewards slow, patient exploration. The afternoon hour suits a quality of settled introspection: the mind no longer distracted by the morning's energy, not yet pulled toward evening. The characteristic phrases move deliberately through the lower and middle registers before rising. Pa as vadi gives it an anchor that Todi, with its unstable avoidance of Pa in ascent, does not have.
Spiritual Significance
Multani's emotional world is shanta and karuna combined: the peace of deep introspection rather than the active grief of Todi. It is the raga of a mind that has looked long at something difficult and come to a kind of stillness in relation to it.
Notable Performers
- Ustad Amir Khan
- Pandit Bhimsen Joshi
- Mallikarjun Mansur
- Kesarbai Kerkar
Famous Compositions
- Compositions of the Jaipur-Atrauli gharana
- Several significant Khayal bandishes