Ragas for Devotion

Warm afternoon devotion; traditionally associated with earnest calling out to the divine.

Warm sunrise raga; widely used in music-therapy contexts for gentle emotional opening.

Traditionally regarded as therapeutic — said to steady blood pressure and settle the emotions. Sung as lullaby and as prayer.

The Chandra (Moon) kriti is set in this raga — traditionally linked with the mind and emotions.

Night raga of waiting and love; traditionally deeply soothing before sleep.

Early dawn raga; traditionally used for the first sitting of the day.

Soft, luminous night raga; traditionally used to close the day gently.

The great dawn raga of Shiva; traditionally serious, purifying and stabilising.

Sung to conclude a recital. Traditionally holds sorrow with tenderness and releases it.

Warm afternoon raga of separation and sweetness.

Sung to wake the deity at brahma-muhurta. Traditionally the raga of gentle awakening.

Serene early-evening pentatonic; traditionally settling and uplifting at once.

Spare dawn pentatonic; traditionally for the first light.

Born of mourning, by tradition; used for sorrow that needs company rather than fixing.

The raga of Brindavan — bright midday colour, strongly associated with Krishna.

The Sarang of Brindavan; buoyant and Krishna-associated.

A warm sunrise raga. Traditionally associated with compassion and gentle awakening.

Monsoon-and-night raga; buoyant and songful.

Shares Arabhi's notes but is soft and prayerful in gamaka.

A devotional morning raga that turns the heart toward bhakthi.

Tender and yearning; traditionally linked to devotional longing at dusk.

A majestic, balanced scale. Traditionally associated with mental steadiness, dignity and sattvic clarity.

Luminous dusk colour; traditionally associated with yearning and beauty.

One of the ghana ragas; traditionally used for invocation.

Balanced and pleasing; traditionally used for calm, even-minded practice.

Pentatonic Todi variant without Pa; rarefied and inward.

Grave dawn raga; solemn and prayerful.

Late-evening raga of rarefied beauty and yearning.

A deep, weighty morning raga. Traditionally used for surrender and for giving voice to grief so it can move.

Warm and expansive; traditionally linked with affection, contentment and devotional sweetness.

Soft and pliant; traditionally used to soften rigidity of mood.

Homely, affectionate night raga.

Mendicant dawn raga; traditionally the mood of renunciation.

The great auspicious evening raga. Traditionally used to dispel fear and anxiety and to invoke wellbeing before any new undertaking.

Sweet, romantic and devotional; a staple of Krishna-bhakthi repertoire.

A dusk raga of prayer and renunciation; traditionally used at sandhya for surrender.

Majestic and expansive evening raga; traditionally regarded as noble and benefic.

Serious night raga of the Kanada family.

Said to help lift low mood and anxiety and to reduce absent-mindedness.

Night raga of Shiva; broad and restful.

Open and songful; a favourite for narrative devotional song.

Poignant and inward. Traditionally used for night-time contemplation and devotional longing.

Sweet, lyrical night raga associated with thumri and bhajan.

Night raga, harmonically close to the western minor; introspective.

The last raga of the night, sung as darkness thins; poignant and prayerful.

The first raga taught to beginners; steadying and simple.

Compact, pleasant morning raga.

The foundational morning raga of Carnatic pedagogy. Traditionally said to purify the system, strengthen the voice and settle the mind for sadhana.

Dusk raga of lament and prayer; used in folk and devotional idiom.

Bhairav with shuddha Re; brighter and more assertive.

A steady morning scale used in devotional composition.

Shares Marwa's notes with a wholly different centre of gravity; inward and grave.

Twilight raga of prayer; traditionally sung at sandhya.

Dawn raga of the Bhairav family, used in Sikh and Nath devotional traditions.

Winding and contemplative; traditionally used for deep bhakthi and inwardness.

Spare and luminous; traditionally used at brahma-muhurta and associated with Ketu.

Traditionally held to pacify anger; its name itself means forbearance. Soothing at any hour, especially late night.

Graceful and devotional evening scale.

The raga of Saraswati; traditionally invoked for learning, memory and speech.

Traditionally sung as mangalam. The Surya (Sun) kriti is set in this raga.

A dawn raga of supplication; traditionally used for prayer and appeal.

The raga of Shanmukha (Kartikeya). Traditionally used for protection, focus and fearlessness.

Pentatonic of tender melancholy; traditionally a companion to grief.

Deeply plaintive. Traditionally used as a vessel for grief and earnest supplication.

Intense and lion-like. Traditionally invoked for inner strength and resolve.

For a healthy mind and body — love, gentleness, peace, tranquillity and serenity. A bhashanga raga using all twelve swaras; sung at dawn and as a concluding piece.

Free-moving raga used to conclude; traditionally consoling and integrative.

A pentatonic of tender sorrow. Traditionally used to let grief surface and settle.

High-lying, ecstatic late-evening raga.

Gentle and rounded; traditionally soothing to a restless heart.

Even and consoling; traditionally used to steady fear. The Angaraka (Mars) kriti is set in this raga.

Intense late-morning raga of yearning; traditionally cathartic rather than comforting.

Austere morning colour; traditionally linked with the mendicant mood.

Grave-sweet and consoling. The Shani (Saturn) kriti is set in this raga.

The first raga of the evening and of most curricula; traditionally auspicious and calming.