Distinguishing between Similar Ragas

There are many ragas in Hindustani Classical Music that use the same swaras or notes but differ in other subtler aspects. Other ragas have very different swaras but strongly resemble another raga. As a result of these close resemblances, one raga is often confused with another.

A raga is more than a scale. Many ragas share the same scale. The underlying scale may have five, six or seven tones made up of swaras. Ragas that have five swaras are called audava ragas; those with six, shaadava; and with seven, sampoorna for 'complete'. Those ragas that do not follow the strict ascending or descending order of swaras are called vakra ('crooked') ragas. It is the mood of the raga that is more important than the notes it comprises. For example, Raga Darbari Kanada and Raga Jaunpuri share the same notes but are entirely different in their renderings.

This feature aims to highlight the differences between a few sets of very similar ragas that are commonly confused with each other

Some examples of sets of ragas commonly confused are :