Raag Kafi राग काफ़ी

The notes

Kafi takes all seven swaras: komal Ga and komal Ni, with Re, Ma, Pa and Dha shuddha. It climbs and falls through all seven in a straight line, so its jati is sampurna–sampurna. The same scale in Carnatic music is Kharaharapriya.

Aroha आरोह

Sa Re G̱a Ma Pa Dha Ṉi Ṡaसा रे ग॒ म प ध नि॒ सां

Avaroha अवरोह

Ṡa Ṉi Dha Pa Ma G̱a Re Saसां नि॒ ध प म ग॒ रे सा

Pakad पकड़

Ma Pa Dha Pa · Ṉi Dha Pa · Ma Pa Ma G̱a Reम प ध प · नि॒ ध प · म प म ग॒ रे

The pakad above gathers Kafi’s catch phrases, as tanarang.com lists them. Another pakad, given by the NIOS course, climbs each note twice: Sa Sa Re Re G̱a G̱a Ma Ma Pa. Bhatkhande’s sargam geet, further down, opens with exactly that line.Reading the sargamA dot below a swara puts it in the lower octave (mandra), a dot above in the upper (taar). A line under a swara marks it komal.

On the harmonium

With Sa at C♯, Kafi is C♯, D♯, E, F♯, G♯, A♯ and B. With Sa at G♯ it is G♯, A♯, B, C♯, D♯, F and F♯. With Sa at D, Kafi falls on the white keys alone. Set your Sa above and the keyboard lights Kafi’s keys from there; tap a key to hear it.

Kafi with Sa at C♯. Tap a key to hear it.

Swara	Name	Sa at C♯ (kali 1)	Sa at G♯ (kali 4)
Sa सा	Sa	C♯ kali ek	G♯ kali chaar
Re रे	Re	D♯ kali do	A♯ kali paanch
G̱a ग॒	Komal Ga	E safed teen	B safed saat
Ma म	Ma	F♯ kali teen	C♯ kali ek
Pa प	Pa	G♯ kali chaar	D♯ kali do
Dha ध	Dha	A♯ kali paanch	F safed chaar
Ṉi नि॒	Komal Ni	B safed saat	F♯ kali teen

How it moves

A raga is more than its scale. These are the moves that make Kafi sound like Kafi.

• Rest on PaPa is Kafi’s most important note, the vadi, and its main resting place. Ma Pa Dha Pa and Ṉi Dha Pa both circle back to it.
• Ma Pa G̱a ReComing down, Kafi drops from Pa through komal Ga and pauses on Re: Ma Pa Ma G̱a Re. As tanarang.com puts it, Ma Pa G̱a Re are the notes that name Kafi.
• Straight both waysKafi takes every note going up and every note coming down. The ragas near it are told apart by the notes they skip going up.
• Up to Ṡa through komal NiGoing up, Dha Ṉi Ṡa reaches the upper Sa, and Ṉi Dha Pa brings the line home.

Shuddha Ga and Ni in Kafi

Kafi lives on komal Ga and komal Ni. But in horis, thumris and other light songs, singers often touch the shuddha notes too. Shuddha Ni comes on the way up to taar Sa, as in Ma Pa Dha Ni Ṡa. Shuddha Ga comes now and then, only in passing.

This is why most of the Kafi you hear is called Mishra Kafi: mixed Kafi. Sangat’s lines keep both notes komal, as the raga is written.

Ragas near Kafi

Several ragas of Kafi thaat share its notes. What sets them apart is mostly the notes they leave out going up, and where they rest.

Paltas in Kafi

Paltas walk Kafi’s own line in small groups. Sangat has five in Kafi: pairs, triplets, fours, turns, and wide triplets that run from mandra Pa to taar komal Ga. Each keeps Ga and Ni komal, up and down. Kafi’s paltas come with Sangat Pro: open Kafi in the app.

A first bandish

Kafi is in Book 1 of Bhatkhande’s Kramik Pustak Malika, the books many teachers still start from. Its first piece is a sargam geet in Teentaal: a composition sung on the swara names alone, so you learn how Kafi moves before there are any words.

Play the sargam geet

Sargam geet सरगम गीतKafi · Teentaal · madhya laya · 90 BPM

Sthayi

0SSa10SSa11RRe12RRe3gGa14gGa15mMa16mMa×PPa2–ऽ3–ऽ4mMa2PPa6DDha7nNi8ṠSa

0nNi10DDha11PPa12mMa3gGa14gGa15RRe16RRe×RRe2PPa3mMa4PPa2mMa6gGa7RRe8SSa

Antara

0mMa10mMa11PPa12DDha3nNi14nNi15ṠSa16–ऽ×ṘRe2ġGa3ṘRe4ṠSa2nNi6DDha7nNi8–ऽ

0DDha10DDha11PPa12PPa3PPa14DDha15PPa16mMa×PPa2–ऽ3–ऽ4mMa2PPa6DDha7nNi8ṠSa

0nNi10DDha11PPa12mMa3gGa14gGa15RRe16RRe×RRe2PPa3mMa4PPa2mMa6gGa7RRe8SSa

From V. N. Bhatkhande, Hindustani Sangeet Paddhati Kramik Pustak Malika, Book 1, page 45. The scan.

Practise this sargam geet in SangatLine by line in your Sa, and it tells you which notes you sang in sur. Kafi is part of Sangat Pro.

Common slips

• Skipping notes going upKafi climbs through every note. Leave out Re and Dha and it leans toward Bhimpalasi; leave out Pa and it leans toward Bageshree.
• Resting on a shuddha noteShuddha Ga and Ni are only touched in passing. Kafi rests on Pa, and on Re coming down.
• Only the scaleKafi is known by its turns, not only by its notes. Sing Ma Pa Ma G̱a Re and Ṉi Dha Pa until they come without thinking.

Songs in Kafi

Kafi is the raga of many horis, thumris and dadras, and film songs draw on it too, though they often bend the raga. Each of these is named as Kafi by at least two sources.

• Ye Raat Ye Chandni Phir Kahan (Jaal, 1952)
• Bairan Neend Na Aaye (Chacha Zindabad, 1959)
• Biraj Mein Holi Khelat Nandlal (Godaan, 1963), a hori
• Gairon Pe Karam Apnon Pe Sitam (Aankhen, 1968)
• Kaali Ghodi Dwar Khadi (Chashme Buddoor, 1981)

Questions

Facts checked on 29 October 2026 against tanarang.com, Rajan Parrikar’s essays at parrikar.org, the NIOS course in Hindustani Music (242) and Wikipedia. The sargam geet is from V. N. Bhatkhande’s Kramik Pustak Malika, Book 1, which is in the public domain.