The Sunset Raga: Shree Captures The Intense Mood Of Hemant Ritu

The end of Sharad Ritu (autumn) marks the end of the most important Hindu festivals starting from Navratri to Sharada Pournima (Kojagiri Pournima), Vijayadashmi (Dussehra) and the most important of them - Deepavali.

Sharad Ritu that ends with full of positivity, colour, vigour, enthusiasm and brightness, is followed by Hemant, which brings to us the sacred and holy yet anxious time period just before the chill sets in. Yes! It is the time to await the winter. This is the ritu which attracts musicians for concerts . The Hemant ritu covers the Margashirsh and Pausha months, starting mid-October and continuing till mid-December as per the Gregorian calendar.

Here’s one of the best renditions of Raag Shree by late Pundit Ravi Shankar who did a pivotal job of introducing Hindustani classical music to the world. (Today we have British sitarists like Clem Alford who have not only been performing Indian vocabulary of music but have gone ahead and bagged the title of Sur Mani).

Sunset – marking the beginning of darkness as the sun sets, also brings with it the mood of restlessness and fear along with romance and spirituality.

Shree, being one of the oldest Hindustani ragas is believed to have an association with Shiva. It also finds a dominant place among the 31 ragas appear in the Guru Granth Sahib.

Tracing the origin of this raga may be difficult yet some scholars do claim that Shree may have been sung as a melody calling out to the devas to alleviate one from anxiety.

Raag Shree is also which is believed to be one of the six purush (male) ragas has not featured prominentlu in Bollywood or old Hindi cinema. One of the most obvious reasons behind the raga being so rare is the complex structure of swaras that make the rendition of the raga difficult. Accomplished Hindustani classical vocalists claim that this raga demands a great competency and mastery over swaras and a crystal clear voice modulation. Although the complicated permutations and combinations of swaras that makes this raga quite demanding, Raag Shree has its own reasons that do attract music lovers even today in the world of Hindustani classical music.