Brindabani Sarang is a
Kafi thaat raga. It was created by
Swami Haridas. The associated mythology being that he brought Lord
Krishna to earth by singing this raga who took the form of an idol which can still be seen in
Mathura. One of the famous Ragas for the Sarang , it is a popular of this family, together with Shuddha Sarang, and Madhyamad Sarang. The name Brindavani Sarang is a testament to its popularity in the region around Mathura. The notes
Ga and
Dha are not used in this raga. A characteristic of all Sarang is the way
Rishab (Re) is sung. The Rishabh is not accorded embellishments, so it is sung without any
meenḍ of adjacent
swaras neither with any
andolan. This preeminence of Re makes the
swar the
vadi of this Raga as also for all other varieties of this family (). Another dominant phrase is Sa - Ni - Pa, also used in many other ragas, notably the popular Kanhada family. The distinguishing factor being that the Ni in Kanhada's S-N-P takes a
kaṇ of the Pa (of ), with a effect, whereas the Ni of Sa-Ni-Pa in Sarang is rendered pure. Brindavani Sarang's classification in thaat Kaafi is peculiar as it uses the shuddha form of "Ni" in its Aaroha, whereas the form of "ni" and "ga" is the main characteristic of the Kaafi thaat. So it is possible to make a mistake in identifying its thaat as
Khamaj. This raga evokes the
sringara rasa - romantic love.
Aroha and Avaroha Arohana: N S R M P N S'
Avarohana: It is still considered a chanchal raga. Megh malhar has same notes but it is Dhrupad
anga raga and is serious in rendering, with a lot of . Another distinguishing factor is that while Rishabh is used extensively in Megh Malhar (as also in Sarang), the Rishabh there takes a very strong meenḍ from Madhyam (Me), a salient in the singing of
meenḍ-heavy Megh. == Carnatic compositions ==