Favoured by Muslims, this raga occurs in the Ragmala as a ragini of Hindol. Today, it belongs to the Khamaj thata. Tilarig was used by Guru Nanak (6 hymns), Guru Ram Das (3), Guru Arjan (5), Guru Tegh Bahadur (3), Kabir (1) and Namdev (2) for a total of 20 hymns. Tilang is performed at night and has a calm and pleasing mood. In the texts composed for this raga, the question is asked why man should cling to all the evils of this life when Guru Nanak has shown the wav to true happiness and fulfilment.
Aroh : Sa Ga Ma Pa Ni Sa :
Avroh : Sa Ni Pa Ma Ga Sa
Vadi : Ga
Samvadi : Ni
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Introduction
According to Mahan Kosh of Kahn Singh Nabha, raga Tilang belongs to Bilawal thath. This raga is also called raga Trikiling and Triling associating it with three Shivlings found at mountains Shail, Kalesar and Bhimeser in Southern India. According to Hanumant School of music it is a ragini of raga Hindol.
This raga is included in the Ragamala listed at the end of Guru Granth Sahib.
The scale and notes of the raga are as follows:
Arohi (ascending scale) - sa ga ma pa ni sa
Avrohi (descending scale) - sa ni pa ma ga sa
The vadi (most popular) note is 'ga' and samvadi (second most popular) note is 'na'.
This raga is sung at the third part of the day i.e., from 12 a.m. to 3 p.m. The season of its recitation is rainy (varsha) i.e., during July and Agust. In Guru Granth Sahib it has hymns from pages 721 - 727( 7 pages).
The Composers:
The composers of bani (hymns) in this raga are:
Gurus
- Guru Nanak
- Guru Ramdas
- Guru Arjan Dev
- Guru Tegh Bahadur
Bhagats:
The structure:
The sequence of the structure of compositions in this raga are:
Gurubani:
- Shabads (2, 3 and 4 padas)
Matrix
VISUAL ANALYSIS
Count of the use of Managals:
- Complete Mool Mantar = 1 at page 721
- Ik-ongkar Satgur Prasadh = 7
Placement and count of rahau verses:
In the first five shabads of Guru Nanak Dev, three shabads have rahau verses with numeral '1' and are placed after the first padas of the shabads; the next two shabads have no rahaus. The next 7 shabads have rahaus without numerals and are placed after the first padas of the shabads. The next two long compositions , one by Guru Nanak Dev and one by Guru Ramdas have no rahau verses. The three shabads of Guru Tegh Bahadur, which follow, have rahau verses in the beginning of the shabads and have numeral with them.
The Bhagat Bani has rahau verses with numeral and are placed at the end of the first padas of the shabads.
Diversification of headings & subheadings in this raga:
Page number |
HeadingiSubheading |
721 |
Raga Tilang Mehla 1 Ghar 1 |
721 |
Tilang Mehla 1 Ghar 2 |
726 |
Tilang Mehla 9 Kafi |
727 |
Tilang Bani Bhagtan ki Kabir Ji |
Composers Structure of Bani
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Padas |
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Ashtpadis |
Specialist |
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Chts |
Specialist |
Var |
Sloaks* |
Gurus |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
8 (padas) |
untiled |
Titled |
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Nanak |
1 |
1 |
3 |
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1 (10 pds) |
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Ramdas |
2 |
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1 (22 pds) |
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Arjan Dev |
1 |
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4 |
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Tegh
Bahadur |
2* |
1* |
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Bhagats |
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Kabir |
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1 |
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Namdev |
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1 |
1 |
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- Pds= padas
- Chts = Chhants
- *These three shabads of Guru Tegh Bahadur are titled 'Kafis' - The meaning of the word Kafi refers to both structure of the composition as well as Kafi ragini.
Excerpts taken from:
Guru Granth Sahib: An Advance Study
Dr Sukhbir Singh Kapoor
Vice Chancellor World Sikh University, London |
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