Marwa (raga)

Marwa is an hexatonic Indian raga; Pa (the fifth tone) is omitted. Marwa is also the name of the thaat.

Arohana Ṇi re_ Ga Ma_ Dha Ni re# S'
In the Western scale this would roughly translate to: B D-flat E F-sharp A B D-flat C

Avarohana re_ Ni Dha Ma_ Ga re Ṇ Ḍ S

The Ma is actually Ma Tivratara, which is a perfect fourth above re komal (which is 112 cents above Sa))

The Vadi is komal Re, while the Samvadi is shuddh Dha. Notice that these do not form a perfect interval. So V.N.Paṭvardhan says "It is customary to give Re and Dha as vādi and saṃvādi, but seen from the point of view of the śāstras (treatises) it is not possible for re and Dha to be saṃvādī (i.e. consonant) to each other. For this reason, in our opinion it is proper to accept Dha as vādī and Ga as saṃvādī" On the other hand if Ga receives too much emphasis, it would create the impression of raga Puriya

Sa is omitted within a taan; it may only be used at the end of a phrase and even then is used infrequently. Bhatkhande gives the pakad as Dha Mâ Ga re, Ga Mâ Ga, re, Sa. Patwardan has shown the mukhya ang as re Ga Mâ Dha, Dha Mâ Ga re, but points out that the raga is also clearly indicated by: Ṇi re Ga Mâ Dha, Dha Mâ Ga re Ṇi re Sa.
The chalan given by Ruckert is: Ṇi Ḍha re__ Ṇi Ḍha Ṃâ Ṇi Ḍha Ṇi Ḍha Sa__ re' Ga Mâ Dha__ Mâ Ni Dha Mâ Ga re__ Sa Ṇi Ḍha re Sa__

Thaat: Marwa).
Puriya and Sohni have the same tonal material. In Puriya Ni and specially Ga are emphasised.
Komal re of Marwa is slightly higher than komal re of Bhairavi
According to O.ThakurPūrvā Kalyāṇa is Marwa with Pa and less emphasis on komal Re. R. Jha treats Bhaṭiya as a mixture of Marwa and Maand. There is only one Author (B. Subba Rao) mentioning a raga Māravā Gaurī, thus Moutal does not consider this an own form. Aspects of Marwa are also incorporated in Mali Gaura
For western listeners the tone material may feel strange. As the sixth is emphasised while the tonica is omitted it may feel like playing in A Major, while the base tone is C (not C sharp). If the musician turns back to Sa at the end of a phrase it always comes like a surprise note.
Other ragas in thaat Marwa:

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Wikipedia