Darbari, Adana, Asawari, and Jaunpuri: A Comparative Study
This video explores four raags of the Asawari family—Darbari Kanada, Adana, Asawari, and Jaunpuri. Although they share a common lineage, each has a distinct identity. Raag Asawari is regarded as the janak (parent) raag, while Darbari, Adana, and Jaunpuri are its close relatives. Though they share the same notes—particularly komal Ga, Dha, and Ni— the way these swars are rendered gives each raag its own unique character.
Darbari, Adana, Asawari, Jaunpuri: A Comparitive Study
Common Features
Raag Darbari and Adana belong to the Asawari family and share several traits. As members of the Asawari Thaat, they both use komal Ga, Dha, and Ni. Both share the Kanada-ang in their descending movements. Although they differ in their vadi swars—Re in Darbari and Sa in Adana— the samvadi in both is Pa, and both are traditionally performed in the late-night hours.
Differences
While both Darbari and Adana hail from the Asawari family, their personalities are strikingly different. Raag Darbari is solemn, marked by a slow and measured gait that emphasizes the poorvang (lower register). This makes it suited to expansive vilambit khayaal presentations. The andolan of komal Ga and Dha in Darbari is slow, spanning a wide range of frequencies around the note, with Ga rendered as ati-komal (lower than the usual place of komal Ga). In contrast, Raag Adana has a playful and energetic spirit, with a quicker pace and stronger emphasis on the uttarang (upper register), which makes it shine in madhya and drut compositions. Here, the andolan of Ga and Dha is shorter and more compact than in Darbari. Darbari’s ascent is sampoorna, including all swars, whereas Adana skips Ga in the middle octave but allows it in the taar saptak (upper octave)
Darbari vs. Adana
Asawari vs. Jaunpuri
Asawari is an ancient raag, whereas Jaunpuri originated around the 18th century. In its ascent, Asawari omits komal Ga and komal Ni, while Jaunpuri also omits komal Ga but includes komal Ni. Thus, Asawari is classified as Audav–Sampoorna, whereas Jaunpuri is Shadav–Sampoorna. Apart from this distinction, the two share the same vadi (Dha) and samvadi (Ga), are both uttarang-pradhan, and are performed at the same time of the night.
Conclusion
Although Asawari, Darbari, Adana, and Jaunpuri belong to one family and share the same notes, they are distinguished by differences in aaroh–avroh, vadi–samvadi, time of performance, characteristic phrases, and the style of andolan. All of these nuances are illustrated and demonstrated in the video above. These variations shape their unique identities, much like children of the same mother who each develop distinct personalities.
Related Topics: Darbari Kanada, Adani, Asawari, Jaunpuri