Rag group having 'Dha' as Dominant note:

Question

Accepted Answer

The correct option is 4:
The Vadi swar, or Dominant Note, is the most important note in a Raga, appearing most frequently and acting as the center around which the Raga's melodic movements (chalan) revolve. The group in Option 4—Deskar, Hindol, and Bhairav—is the correct selection because, in traditional Hindustani musicology, the Dhaivat (Dha) is unequivocally established as the Vadi swar for all three of these Ragas. Specifically, Raga Deskar and Raga Hindol use the Shuddh Dhaivat, while the Sandhi Prakash Raga Bhairav uses the Komal Dhaivat. Despite the difference in the *type* of Dhaivat (Shuddh or Komal) used, all three share the note Dha as their fundamental melodic anchor, making them a coherent group based on this central structural criterion.

The incorrect option is 1:
This option includes Raga Bhairav and Raga Asavari, both of which correctly have Dhaivat as their Vadi swar. However, the third Raga in this group, Bihag, disrupts the pattern entirely. The Vadi swar for Raga Bihag is Gandhar (Ga), and its Samvadi (Consonant) swar is Nishad (Ni). Since the essential melodic center of Bihag is Ga and not Dha, this group fails to satisfy the condition of having 'Dha' as the dominant note for *all* its constituent Ragas.

The incorrect option is 2:
This option presents a mixed group. Ragas Jaunpuri and Deskar both correctly feature Dhaivat as their Vadi swar; Jaunpuri uses Komal Dha, and Deskar uses Shuddh Dha. The reason this group is incorrect is the inclusion of Raga Kafi. The established Vadi swar for Raga Kafi is Pancham (Pa), with Shuddh Rishabh (Re) as the Samvadi swar. Therefore, as Kafi does not have Dha as its dominant note, its inclusion disqualifies this option as the universally correct group.

The incorrect option is 3:
This option is incorrect because two of the three Ragas listed—Yaman and Bhupali—have Gandhar (Ga) as their Vadi swar. The Vadi-Samvadi pair for Raga Yaman is Ga-Ni, and for Raga Bhupali it is Ga-Dha. While Raga Hindol does correctly have Dhaivat (Dha) as its Vadi swar, the clear predominance of Ga as the Vadi in the other two Ragas means that the entire group cannot be collectively defined by 'Dha' as the dominant note.