Happy to hear you say that you are happy here. This is the best thread for just digging in and finding a special place for your heart to be calm. Begum is doing a great job and working so hard and creatively by pulling this information together. We are happy to welcome you and hope you will have things to say about the kirtan thread and other threads too. This raga is attributed to Guru Nanak, who developed it from a Punjabi folk tune. It does not appear in the Ragmala nor does it seem to be a classical raga today. Possibly it has been reserved purely for Gurbani Sangeet. Majh was the setting for compositions by Guru Nanak, Guru Angad, Guru Amar Das, Guru Ram Das and Guru Arjan. This is a regional raga of Manjha- the central portion of the Punjab-and is sung in the afternoon. Here Guru Nanak has given an account of social, cultural and religion conflict between the Hindus and the Muslims in his age. Guru Arjan has composed the calendar- Barah Maha-in this raga. He has dwelt on the characteristics of different months, and the importance of water and milk in the agricultural economy of the punjab. Metaphorically these two things respectively signify that man without devotion and kindness is no good at all. Aroh : Sa Re Ma Pa Dha Sa Avroh : Sa Ni Dha Pa Ma Ga Re Sa Vadi : Ma Samvadi : SaThe raga is sung to describe the lacerations of a beloved in the memory of his/her lover. The shabad of Guru Arjan 'mera maan lochey...is the best example to describe the depth of this raga. The notes used in this raga are:Arohi (ascending scale) - sa re ma pa ni sa (omitted notes are -ga, dha)Avrohi (descending scale) - sa ni-(soft note) dha pa ma ga-(soft note) re saThe vadi (most popular) note is 're' and samvadi (second most popular) note is 'pa'. Raga Majh is sung at the third part of the day i.e., from 12 noon to 3 p.m. The season of its recitation is rainy (varsha) i.e., during July and August.Gouri, too, is a prAchina rAga. Or, to be more precise, it is a group of rAgas. Furthermore, it would be appropriate to regard Gouri as a sub-melody, more in the line of a gesture than a full blown Raganga. And so it is that there are Gouris of the Bhairav, Poorvi and Marwa thATs with additional qualifiers such as the Shree-anga Gouri, Bhairav-anga Gouri, Poorvi-anga Gouri and so on. These are not considered 'big' rAgas. Most of the Gouris in vogue fall to either the Bhairav or the Poorvi thAT. The canonical Gouri signature obtains from the peculiar behaviour on and around the shuddha nishAd of the mandra saptak. To wit: S, N' N' S, r G, r S r N', N' d' N', N' SRaag Theory : Asa is a very old raga, once popular in the Punjab but seldom heard in concerts today. In the Ragmala this is a ragini of raga Megha. However, today it is assigned to the Bilaval thata. Asa is a devotional raga for the cold season and is performed in the early morning just before sunrise. However, it is also known as a twilight melody with a calm mystical mood. Asa was used by Guru Nanak, Guru Angad, Guru Amar Das, Guru Ram Das, Guru Arjan and Guru Tegh Bahadur. Asa raga literally means the melody of hope. As the Gurus emphasised the singing of God’s praises before dawn, this raga is conducive to kirtan before day-break. It is a soothing and pleasing raga, appropriate for the singing of the Asa-di-var, the morning-prayer of the Sikhs. Guru Ramdas’s Chants ser the tone of this blissful composition:“My eyes are damp with the nectar of the Lord; My soul is filled with His love” . Thaat Bilawal Prahar 6 (9pm - 12am) Aaroha S - R - m - P - D - S' Vaadi m Avroha S' - N - D - P - m - G - R - S Samvaadi S Pakad