Multani

Multani is the other major Todi-thaat raga covered here alongside Miyan ki Todi, and the two divide up the same difficult scale — komal Re, komal Ga, tivra Ma, komal Dha — in almost opposite ways. Miyan ki Todi drops Pa from the picture almost entirely; Multani keeps Pa as its vadi and instead treats Re and Dha as the weak notes, present only as brief passing tones in descent rather than points of rest. That leaves an audav ascent of Sa, komal Ga, tivra Ma, Pa, and shuddha Ni, with the full seven notes only appearing on the way back down. The raga's real personality lives in the oscillation between tivra Ma and komal Ga — a slow, deliberate andolan that some call Multani's signature gesture, and one any serious attempt at the raga has to get right before anything else. Alap conventionally opens from a lower-register Ni rather than Sa, the same device used in Bageshri and Bihag, giving the raga an instantly recognizable entry point. Traditionally placed in the afternoon, Multani has a serious, restrained character that keeps it firmly in intermediate-to-advanced repertoire rather than a beginner's first Todi-family raga.