Rag Malkauns

Ragmala of malkauns — *Ragmala* Painting of *Rag Malkauns* from the *Mewar* school (circa 1605)

Description

Rag Malkauns (A.K.A. Malkosh) is a very popular rag in the North Indian system (Hindustani Sangeet). In the South it is known as Hindolam. It is a pentatonic rag that has has the five notes Sa, Komal Ga, Ma, Komal Dha, and Komal Ni. One would think that with so many komal (flat) notes that it would have a strong minor quality about it. However, upon close examination we see that the absence of the fifth and the strong presence of the fourth causes the mind to “invert” it. Therefore, it tends to sound surprisingly similar to Dhani to which it has a murchana relationship.

Malkauns has a long history, and it appears to have undergone numerous changes over the centuries. It is said that Malkauns is derived from Malav Kaushik. However, modern Malkauns has no resmblence to this ancient rag.

The mood is meditative, perhaps even sad. Therefore, it tends to be played in slow to medium speeds.

The modality of Malkauns is not shared with any other rags. Therefore there is really no need to go beyond the basic mode in order to define Malkauns.