The trend of "Diwali pahaat" concerts in the early morning of Diwali days has now acquired widespread acceptance, turning it into a tradition over last decade, especially in Pune. Celebration of festivals like Diwali in a community with a concert of classical music is a daunting task.
If I were to name a raag that fits the bill for a early morning concert on a Diwali day, it would be Raag Deepavali; a raag that was invented by Pt Pannalal Ghosh. This raag has the shades of Yaman and Lalat, or it could be called a variant of Vachaspati with both the Madhyams (Lalatang).
Ashwini Bhide radiates joy and festivity in her rendition of Raag Deepawali :
Nityanand Haldipur presents crisp version of Raag Deepawali on Flute as envisioned by the inventor Pt Pannalal Ghosh.
Kafi and Khamaj are the two raags that fit the bill of "light classical music", the other raag that permits liberties of light classical music is Bhairavi. Though there are not many "pure worldly romantic" compositions in classical music as most of the romance in classical music has a undertone of "bhakti" or some similar philosophy. Tappa and Thumri are the kind of forms that could be labelled as "Semi-Classical", have many compositions that could be classified in the domain of celebration of "Worldly pleasures".
Kajri, Hori etc. are forms that were part of community celebrations of festivals like Holi and the season of Basant or Spring. Oblique overtone of spirituality and devotion (bhakti) is still observed in many of these compositions in raags like Kafi, Khamaj and Bhairavi or in forms like Thumri and Tappa, classified in olden days as "Kshudra" or untouchabe music by the puritans of Classical and Dhrupad exponents.
Here is a previous version of the article (2015 Diwali)
What are some of the special raags / compositions that are intended to be performed during festive seasons especially Diwali?
1) Deepavali by Pt Pannalal Ghosh that has flavors of Yaman and Lalit, also has shades of Puriya Kalyan
2) Parmeshwari by Pt Ravishankar that encompasses Raag Bageshree and Ahir Bhairav
Sawani Shende explains Raag Parmeshwari :
Pt Ravishankar presents his own creation:
Mateshwari Parameshwari .. the evergreen madhyalay bandish presented by a young lad Tejas Koparkar ( Son and disciple of Pt Vijay Koparkar )
3) DhanBasanti by Pt Kumar Gandharva that seems to be a combination of Basant and Sohoni or Bhoop
Deep ki Jyot jale ... Shubhghadi !
4) Dhanakoni Kalyan by Pt CR Vyas ( Yaman without Dhaivat , similar to Carnatic melkarta raag Vachaspati )
Pt Ganapati Bhat presents Dhankoni Kalyan ( This was the concert where I heard this raag for first time )
Other raags that radiate happiness bliss and festivities in some of their bandishes are:
Shivmat Bhairav (a mix of Bhairav, Bhairavi and Todi) ... a favorite of Pt Jitendra Abhisheki
Basant Mukhari (The classic union of Bhairav and Bhairavi)
Kaushiki .. the darling of Pune sings during Diwali Pahat concert 2019
Gopika Basant (A mix of Asavari and Malkauns)
Nat Bhairav: The morning melody ... classic by Pt Jayteerth Mewundi
NandKauns (a mix of Raag Jog and Malkauns)
Contemplative Sarod of Pt Tejendra Narayan Majumdar
Raj Kalyan : It is said that Subh Kalyaan was a signature raag of Pt Vasantrav Deshpande who created it as a “happy” variant of Marwa !
Shubh Kalyan : A variant of night melody Shuddha Kalyan, with a Komal nishad instead of Shuddha Nishad ! A favorite of Pt Ajay Pohankar
The other raags that radiate happiness, joy and festivity by themselves are:
Hindol : Joshi Sisters sing Hindol at a morning concert
Hindol Bahar ( a trade mark of Pt Ulhas Kashalkar)
Kalavati (Hindustani) and Janasammohini (carnatic)
Sohoni : The raag of romance
Kaushiki mesmerizes with her Patiala Gharana upbringing .. a Punjabi bandish !
Raag Kaafi and thaat Kaafi in general seems to be a primary scale or thaat, that has the moods of festivities.
I always like to add Raag Jog in the list of "festive raags", primarily because of the composition "Saajan more ghar aaye" composed by Ut Faiyyaz Khan on the occasion of the marriage of his daughter.
Here is my playlist for Festive Deepawali, on YouTube
Shubh Deepawali to all!