Bhairavi is the frame where every swara that can flatten does. Re, Ga, Dha and Ni all drop; Sa, Ma and Pa cannot move without ceasing to be themselves in this system, so four is the largest komal count the ten frames contain.
The seven swaras, from Sa
Declared as semitone offsets from Sa, then read through the same fixed chromatic-to-sargam table every thaat on this site uses — the frame’s seven available positions, not a raga’s actual phrasing. Against the Bilawal reference this frame moves four swaras.
| Degree | Offset (semitones from Sa) | Swara |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 | Sa |
| 2 | 1 | Komal Re |
| 3 | 3 | Komal Ga |
| 4 | 5 | Ma |
| 5 | 7 | Pa |
| 6 | 8 | Komal Dha |
| 7 | 10 | Komal Ni |
Where it falls on the sitar
With Sa placed on C, every fret across all five strings whose pitch class is one of Bhairavi’s seven swaras — computed from the registry’s true open pitches and the instrument’s fifteen-fret board:
| String | Frets | Swaras |
|---|---|---|
| 5th string (C3) | 0, 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10, 12, 13, 15 | Sa, Komal Re, Komal Ga, Ma, Pa, Komal Dha, Komal Ni, Sa, Komal Re, Komal Ga |
| 4th string (G3) | 0, 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 13, 15 | Pa, Komal Dha, Komal Ni, Sa, Komal Re, Komal Ga, Ma, Pa, Komal Dha, Komal Ni |
| 3rd string (C4) | 0, 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10, 12, 13, 15 | Sa, Komal Re, Komal Ga, Ma, Pa, Komal Dha, Komal Ni, Sa, Komal Re, Komal Ga |
| 2nd string (G4) | 0, 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 13, 15 | Pa, Komal Dha, Komal Ni, Sa, Komal Re, Komal Ga, Ma, Pa, Komal Dha, Komal Ni |
| 1st string (C5) | 0, 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10, 12, 13, 15 | Sa, Komal Re, Komal Ga, Ma, Pa, Komal Dha, Komal Ni, Sa, Komal Re, Komal Ga |
Four flattened swaras produce the most crowded low end of any frame here: on every C string, fret 1 lights for komal Re where Bilawal has nothing until fret 2, and frets 3, 8, 10, 13 and 15 follow while 2, 4, 9, 11 and 14 go dark. The G strings shift the same shape by a fifth — 1, 3, 6, 8, 13 and 15 light — and the total lands at fifty positions, the same count as Asavari despite one more swara moving, because the extra move happens to fall where a position already existed.
A frame, not a raga
Raga Bhairavi shares its name with this thaat, which is a coincidence of naming rather than an identity: the raga is famous for borrowing swaras from outside the frame, and in performance practice it is treated as effectively open to all twelve positions. Malkauns and Bilaskhani Todi are also conventionally classified here and use five and seven swaras respectively. A thaat groups; it does not describe.
Where to start
Come to Bhairavi from Asavari — the only difference is komal Re, and isolating one swara is the fastest way to hear what the frame does. In 12-TET the same seven pitch classes are what the scale library calls Phrygian, a reference approximation that captures the positions and none of the ornament. Then work the table through the daily drills before trying to make music with it.