Raga Marwa or Raga Marva
Marva or Marwa is a hexatonic Indian raga; Pa is omitted. Marva is the eponymous raga of the Marva thaat.
This is a very melodious raga. In this raga, Rishabh and Dhaivat are considered Vadi and Samvadi notes respectively and therefore these notes are highly emphasized and used as Nyas Swar. Raga Puriya is similar to raga Marwa. But In raga Puriya, Gandhar and Nishad are more emphasized. The skipping of Shadj (Sa) in Aaroh-Avroh and Alpatva of Gandhar and Nishad is observed in this raga.
Raga Marwa is considered to be the most fundamental rag in Marwa Thaat. It is an evening rag that is quite popular. This rag is unusual in that the tonic is not harmonically well defined; there is no pancham (5th) and the madhyam is tivra rather than shuddha.
Marwa's forerunners (Maru or Maruva) have different scales in the literature from the 16th century onwards. Pratap Singh (end of 18th century) writes that Marwa is the same as the ancient Malava, and its melodic outline is very similar to today's Marwa Also Jairazbhoy reports that Locana's Malava - may be the origin of modern Marva.
This raga is not very easily expandable. This raga is mostly rendered in Madhya Saptak. raga Marwa instigates the feeling of detachment or renunciation from the pains and pleasures of the material world. Illustrative combinations are:
S ; ,N ,D ,N r ; G M D ; M G r ; ,N ,D r S ; M D ; M D S' ; S' D N r' N D ; M D ; M G r ; G r ,N ,D r S ;
The Vadi is komal Re, while the Samvadi is shuddh Dha. Notice that these do not form a perfect interval. So V.N.Pa?vardhan says 'It is customary to give Re and Dha as vadi and sa?vadi, but seen from the point of view of the shastras (treatises) it is not possible for re and Dha to be sa?vadi to each other. For this reason, in our opinion it is proper to accept Dha as vadi and Ga as Samvadi' On the other hand if Ga receives too much emphasis, it would create the impression of raga Puriya.
Marwa is also characterised as quiet, contemplative, representing gentle love. According to Kaufmann is the overall mood defined by the sunset in India, which approaches fast and this 'onrushing darkness awakes in many observers a feeling of anxiety and solemn expectation'.
Pundarika Vitthala describes as follows 'The king at war always worship Maravi, whose face shines like the moon and who has long tresses of hair. With moist eyes, faintly smiling, she is adorned skillfully with sweet smelling flowers of different varieties. Her complexion gleams like gold; she is attired in red and her eyes are like those of a fawn. She is the elder sister of Mewar. In Marwa Ni and Ga are sharp, Sa is the graha and amsa and Ri and Dha are the nyasa'.
Raga Marwa is famous among classical musicians, as it is one of the most peculiar ragas in Indian music. The first unique feature of this raga is that there is no Pa or suddha Ma. These two notes imply stability with the Sa. The most likely reason why Pa and shuddha ma do not take place is because, Sa, in this raga, is avoided a lot. It will be confusing for one to listen to this raga, as the tonic seems to disappear. Thus, the mood of this raga can be said to describe anxiety or melancholy, as there is no stability. There is no harmonic stability, as the komal re and dha form the vadi-samvadi pair. Since komal re is the vadi (the strongest note), the komal re in this particular raga creates an otherworldly ghastly feel. Hence, another mood of this raga is fear.
Marwa is among the ten thaats enumerated by Pandit Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande and is characterized by the swara set S r G m P D N corresponding to the Carnatic melakarta Gamanasrama. The flagship raga of this that – Raga Marwa – drops the pancham altogether. The same is true for two other principals of this group – Pooriya and Sohani. These three ragas maintain a collegial but distinct melodic dynamic. It is therefore instructive to view them together under the same lens. Related ragas Puriya and Sohini have the same tonal material.
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