History & Origins
Nand belongs to the Kalyan thaat and shares many notes with Yaman, but its vakra (crooked) movement in both ascent and descent makes it a distinct raga with its own personality. The name Nand is an epithet of Krishna ("Nanda's son") and the raga has strong devotional associations with Vaishnava traditions. It was popular in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries as a vehicle for compositions addressed to Krishna.
The Notes of Raga Nand
Raga Nand is a Sampurna (vakra) 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 Nand, the pakad is:
Performance
Nand's circling character requires the musician to navigate its vakra phrases with considerable attention (the ascending movement visits Ga multiple times, each visit adding to the raga's characteristic sense of circling around a central emotional point. This movement has been compared to the circular dance of the Raas Lila) Krishna dancing with the Gopis.
Spiritual Significance
Nand's devotional associations with Krishna give it a particular character of bhakti: devotional love that contains both the sweetness of shringara and the surrender of spiritual devotion. The two are not in conflict: in the Vaishnava tradition, human love at its deepest becomes an image of the soul's relationship with the divine.
Notable Performers
- Pandit Jasraj
- Ustad Rashid Khan
- Kishori Amonkar
- Pandit Bhimsen Joshi
Famous Compositions
- Devotional compositions (bhajans) in this raga
- Khayal compositions addressed to Krishna