बिनन गंदहरि

Raag Binna Gandhari is a complete scale with all 7 notes in both ascent and descent raga in the Carnatic classical music tradition.. With its Sampurna-Sampurna jati structure, this raag creates a distinctive tonal landscape. The predominant rasa is Peace/Tranquility (शांत), making it suitable for compositions that evoke peaceful, meditative emotions. It is traditionally performed during evening hours, and its melodic contour offers rich possibilities for alapana, kalpanaswaram, and creative improvisation.

As part of the rich tapestry of Indian classical music, Raag Binna Gandhari represents the deep connection between melodic structure and emotional expression that defines the Carnatic tradition.

Binna Gandhari (also written Vinna Gandhari) is an ancient Carnatic janya raag whose name carries significant historical weight. 'Gandhari' was one of the seven principal raags (or murchhanas) in the ancient Indian music system described in texts such as the Natyashastra of Bharata Muni (c. 200 BCE–200 CE) and the Sangita Ratnakara of Sharngadeva (c. 1247 CE). It was named after the region of Gandhara (ancient northwestern India, present-day Afghanistan), and was associated with Gandhara svara — the third degree — as its defining note.

The prefix 'Binna' (Sanskrit: विन्न or भिन्न, meaning separated, divided, or distinctively altered) distinguishes this from simple Gandhari, indicating a specific melodic alteration or treatment of the original Gandhari scale. Such 'Binna' or 'Vinna' compounds appear in classical Sanskrit music treatises to denote derived or modified forms of ancient raags. In the contemporary Carnatic repertoire, Binna Gandhari is extremely rarely performed, and its melakarta parent is not definitively established in widely accessible sources; a Hindustani thaat equivalent therefore cannot be assigned with confidence.