History & Origins
Shankara is one of the few ragas explicitly named for a divine aspect: Shankara is one of the names of Shiva, and the raga is intended to evoke his presence. It belongs to the Bilawal thaat but uses Ma very sparingly (or not at all in some versions), giving it an unusual character within that family. The raga appears in texts from the medieval period and has been performed across multiple gharana traditions.
The Notes of Raga Shankara
Raga Shankara is a Shadava-Sampurna (Ma rare) 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 Shankara, the pakad is:
Performance
The characteristic feature of Shankara in performance is the avoidance or very sparing use of Ma (the middle of the scale) which creates a quality of tension and grandeur. The strong Pa-Ga relationship and the wide octave movement give it a sense of scale. A performance of Shankara should feel like entering a large space: airy, grand, slightly formal.
Spiritual Significance
Shankara's bhakti is not the tender devotion of Kedar or the pastoral love of Vrindavani Sarang: it is devotion to the aspect of the divine that overwhelms the personal. Shiva as Shankara is the bestower of peace, but also the one who dissolves all distinctions. The raga carries both the grandeur and the ultimate stillness of that dissolution.
Notable Performers
- Pandit Jasraj
- Mallikarjun Mansur
- Ustad Rashid Khan
- Pandit Bhimsen Joshi
Famous Compositions
- Devotional compositions addressed to Shiva
- Khayal bandishes of the Gwalior tradition