Musical Anatomy
Thaat
Khamaj
Jati
Audav
Time
Night
Vadi
Ga
Samvadi
Ni
Nature
Devotional, sweet, light
Arohana (Ascent)
Sa Ga Ma Pa Ni Ṡa▲Avarohana (Descent)
Ṡa▲ Ni Pa Ma Ga SaPakad (Characteristic Phrase)
Ga Ma Pa, Ni Pa Ga SaNotation guide
Notable Compositions
Raga attributions for film songs, ghazals, and semi-classical pieces are often disputed. Composers may draw from a raga without strictly adhering to it. Treat these as approximate — we show a confidence indicator on each entry.
"Woh lamhe woh baatein, chhod ke kyon tum chale gaye"
"Jab se tum ko dekha hai sanam"
Tilang · 6 compositions
Tilang is a pentatonic night raga with a devotional, sweet character. It is popular in bhajans and film music.
Legend & Lore
Tilang is thought to take its name from the Telangana region of southern India, reflecting the historical exchange of musical ideas between the Carnatic and Hindustani traditions.
It is a pentatonic night raga of the Khamaj thaat, using only Sa, Ga, Ma, Pa, and Ni — with komal Ni employed in descent — which gives it an open, airy sweetness well suited to devotional song and light classical performance.
Its bhakti character has made it a favourite for compositions addressed to Krishna, and many celebrated bhajans and film songs draw on Tilang.
The raga features prominently in the Vaishnavite devotional repertoire and appears in compositions attributed to Tansen as well as innumerable later bhajan poets.
Its simple pentatonic palette makes it both an ideal teaching raga and a vehicle for sophisticated improvisers.
Knowledge Deep-Dive
Test Your Knowledge
1. Which two swaras are omitted in Raga Tilang, making it a pentatonic raga?
2. Tilang belongs to which thaat?
3. What combination of rasas best describes the emotional world of Raga Tilang?
Discover More Songs in Tilang
Discover More Songs in Tilang
Many Hindi film songs blend multiple raags across their mukhda and antara. When searching, you may discover songs primarily in other raags that share Tilang's emotional palette — that's intentional cross-raag composition by the music director.