Which Hindustani classical Raag is sung as an invitation to rain?

Correct — C, Raag Malhar. Malhar is the monsoon raga of Hindustani music, sung to invite or to celebrate rain, and it heads a whole family of related ragas — Miyan ki Malhar, associated with Tansen, along with Megh Malhar, Gaud Malhar, Ramdasi Malhar and others. The association is old enough to have generated the legend that Tansen's singing of Megh Malhar brought down rain, and it is the standard example given whenever Hindustani ragas are linked to seasons. None of the other three ragas offered carries a rain association: they belong to different times of day or to a different season altogether.

• (a)Raag Yaman — Raag Yaman is an evening raga of the Kalyan family, one of the first taught to beginners. It has no seasonal association.
• (b)Raag Bahar — Raag Bahar is indeed seasonal, but its season is spring — bahar means spring — so it is the strongest distractor here for a candidate who remembers only that one of these ragas is tied to a season.
• (d)Raag Bhairavi — Raag Bhairavi is a morning raga, traditionally sung at the close of a concert. It is defined by its time of performance rather than by weather.

Hindustani ragas are conventionally assigned to times of day, and a smaller number are also assigned to seasons. Malhar is the rain family, Bahar the spring family, Basant also spring, and Hindol and Deepak carry further seasonal associations in the older classifications. The samay or time theory divides the day into watches and places ragas within them: Bhairav and Bhairavi in the morning, Sarang around midday, Yaman and Puriya in the evening, Darbari and Malkauns at night. The seasonal ragas can override the time convention, which is why Malhar can be sung when the rain comes.

The item is decided by separating a seasonal association from a time-of-day association. Two of the four ragas offered are seasonal, Malhar and Bahar, and the other two are marked by hour. Once you see that, the question is only whether the season asked for is the monsoon or the spring, and bahar meaning spring settles it. Bhairavi is the most-chosen wrong answer because it is the best-known name on the list, being the raga with which concerts traditionally close; familiarity is not relevance. A useful memory hook is the Tansen legend, which fixes Malhar to rain in one story.

• Malhar is the rain raga of Hindustani music, with Miyan ki Malhar, Megh Malhar and Gaud Malhar in its family.
• Miyan ki Malhar is attributed to Tansen, a musician at Akbar's court.
• Bahar is a raga of spring, not of the rains.
• Bhairavi is a morning raga, conventionally sung at the end of a performance.
• Yaman belongs to the Kalyan family and is performed in the early evening.

• Choosing Bhairavi because it is the most familiar name rather than the relevant one.
• Confusing Bahar, the spring raga, with the rain family.
• Assuming every raga carries a seasonal association; most are marked by time of day instead.

Asked as a one-line association item on Hindustani music, where two options are seasonal ragas and the deciding knowledge is which season each belongs to.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which raga of the Hindustani tradition is associated with the spring season?

  • (a)Malhar
  • (b)Bahar
  • (c)Darbari
  • (d)Todi

  Answer(b) Bahar — bahar means spring, which is why it is the natural distractor for the rain raga.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Miyan ki Malhar is traditionally attributed to

  • (a)Amir Khusrau
  • (b)Tansen
  • (c)Swami Haridas
  • (d)Baiju Bawra

  Answer(b) Tansen — the musician of Akbar's court whose tomb stands at Gwalior.