Which one of the following Carnatic music ragas is similar to Raga Bilawal in Hindustani music ?
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Answer: D. Raga Bilawal uses all seven natural (shuddha) notes, the same scale as the Western major scale. Its Carnatic counterpart is Dheera Shankarabharanam, the 29th melakarta raga, which uses the same set of notes.
Watch for: The names sound unrelated, so students guess; remember Bilawal = all natural notes = Shankarabharanam.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Wrong because Nat Bhairavi matches Hindustani Asavari (Thaat Asavari), not Bilawal.
- B. Wrong because Kamavardhini (Pantuvarali) matches Hindustani Purvi, not Bilawal.
- C. Wrong because Hanumatodi matches Hindustani Bhairavi, not Bilawal.
Source to check: CCRT (Centre for Cultural Resources and Training) material on Hindustani thaats and Carnatic melakartas; NCERT Class 11 'An Introduction to Indian Art', Part I
Answer from the provisional UPSC key; it may change when the final key is out. Written and fact-checked by AI against the official key. Spotted a mistake? Report it.