बहलि

Raag Bahali 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 Bahali represents the deep connection between melodic structure and emotional expression that defines the Carnatic tradition.

Raag Bahali is a janya (derived) raag in the Carnatic classical system whose arohana and avarohana have not been definitively documented in the lakshana texts digitized to date. The name 'Bahali' may derive from the Sanskrit or Tamil-Carnatic naming tradition that produces raag names through geographic, seasonal, deity, or aesthetic references. Some musicologists associate 'Bahali' with words meaning 'external' or 'of the outer region', which could indicate a raag borrowed from or inspired by non-mainstream raga sources. In Carnatic raga taxonomy, the repertoire includes numerous janyas that exist almost entirely in manuscript notation of specific composers (particularly 18th- and 19th-century Tanjavur-region composers) without entering the concert mainstream. Bahali appears to belong to this category — its sampurna-sampurna structure suggests a theoretically complete scale, but performing practice and lakshana documentation are scarce.