Chandni Kedar
Moonlight falling still on devotion's open waters
Musical Anatomy
Thaat
Kalyan
Jati
Audav-Sampoorna
Time
Night
Vadi
Ma
Samvadi
Sa
Nature
Moonlit, Kedar variant, devotional
Arohana (Ascent)
Sa Ma Pa Dha Ni Ṡa▲Avarohana (Descent)
Ṡa▲ Ni Dha Pa Ma* Pa Ma Ga Re SaPakad (Characteristic Phrase)
Ma Pa Dha Ni Sa, Dha Pa Ma* Ma Ga Re SaNotation guide
Chandni Kedar is a moonlit variant of Kedar with a particularly serene, devotional quality associated with moonlit nights.
Legend & Lore
Chandni Kedar — chandni meaning moonlight — is a serene variant of the venerable Raga Kedar, distinguished by a particularly luminous, devotional quality that musicians consistently describe as resembling silver moonlight on undisturbed water.
Kedar itself is one of the great ragas of the Kalyan family, its name invoking Kedarnath, the sacred Himalayan shrine of Shiva, and the raga has carried devotional significance in the khyal tradition for centuries.
Chandni Kedar amplifies Kedar's contemplative aspect, with specific phrase choices that avoid forceful ornaments in favor of sustained, gentle melodic arcs.
The raga's Audav-Sampoorna structure — five notes ascending, seven descending — creates a melodic asymmetry that generates contemplative depth through the appearance of notes in descent that were absent in ascent.
Compositions in Chandni Kedar preserved by the Gwalior and Agra gharanas rank among the tradition's most sublime nocturnal offerings.
Knowledge Deep-Dive
Test Your Knowledge
1. What does 'Chandni' mean in the name Chandni Kedar?
2. What is the jati structure of Chandni Kedar?
3. The Kedar family of ragas belongs to which thaat?
Discover More Songs in Chandni Kedar
Discover More Songs in Chandni Kedar
Many Hindi film songs blend multiple raags across their mukhda and antara. When searching, you may discover songs primarily in other raags that share Chandni Kedar's emotional palette — that's intentional cross-raag composition by the music director.