Rag Gauri
Out of the thirty-one principal rags in the Guru Granth Sahib, Rag Gauri (a musical mode) has been designated third place in the sequence. Under this rag, the Bani of five Gurus and three Bhagats is recorded from page 151 to 346 of the Guru Granth Sahib. It includes forty Sabads by Guru Nanak Sahib, thirty-nine by Guru Amardas Sahib, one hundred fifteen by Guru Ramdas Sahib, four hundred sixty-two by Guru Arjan Sahib, nine by Guru Teghbahadar Sahib, one hundred forty-three by Bhagat Kabir, one by Bhagat Namdev, and five by Bhagat Ravidas.

Rag Gauri is of a serious nature. Consequently, the Guru has used this rag to reveal compositions related to thoughtful subjects like mind, consciousness, intellect, soul, death, and liberation. The compositions ‘Bavan Akhari’ and ‘Sukhmani’ are also revealed under this rag.

In Gurmat Sangit (Sikh music), Rag Gauri has an important place. The largest number of Sabads in the Guru Granth Sahib are recorded in this rag. Guru Arjan Sahib, while referring to Rag Gauri, says that the human-bride (seeker) can be graceful while singing Rag Gauri only if they enshrine the Divine-Husband in their heart, live by the eternal Wisdom (Guru), and makes it their adornment:
gaüṛī rāgi sulakhaṇī je khasmai citi karei.
bhāṇai calai satigurū kai aisā sīgāru karei. -Guru Granth Sahib 311.

Gauri is an old rag. In the old Hindustani texts on music, it is also written as Gori, Gauri, Gavri, or Gauri. Twenty-two forms of this rag have been prevalent, which were considered to have distinct and independent structure from each other. In these, there is always some element of the principal rag (Gauri), due to which they are also known as ‘ragang-rag’ of Gauri or ‘types of Gauri.’

In the Guru Granth Sahib, ‘Gauri’ appears as a principal rag as well as a mixed rag in eleven different forms. These mixed forms are as follows: Gauri Guareri, Gauri Dakhani, Gauri Bairagan, Gauri Cheti, Gauri Dipki, Gauri Purbi, Gauri Purbi Dipki, Gauri Majh, Gauri Malva, Gauri Mala, and Gauri Sorath.

‘Gauri’ is one of the five songs recorded in ‘Sangit Ratnakar Granth,’ namely Shudha, Bhinna, Gauri, Baisra and Sadharani. It has two forms, ‘Gauri’ and ‘Ohati.’ ‘Gauri’ is a song in which the notes of its rag are rendered in such a way that they seem pleasing to the mind. Its tempo should remain uninterrupted across the lower (mandar saptak), middle (madhya saptak) or upper octaves (tar saptak); it should be pleasing to the ears, and it should also be famous in the Gaurav/Gaur region (an area between East Bengal and Orisa).

With reference to ‘Ain-i-Akbari,’ Dr. Kirpal Singh expresses two views regarding the origin of this rag: first, the origin of this rag could be in Bengal, and second, Gauri (Shiva’s wife) could be the creator of this rag. From the above views it can be inferred that this rag must have originated in Bengal.

In the rag-ragini system, there are different views on the Rag Gauri. In Hanuman belief and Bharat belief, this rag is considered to be the ragini of Rag Malkauns. According to Bhai Kahn Singh Nabha as well, Gauri is a ragini. Its that is Purbi, jati (class) is aurav-sharav, and it also has a part of Srirag. In the ‘Ragmala’ recorded in the Guru Granth Sahib, Gauri (Gavari) is considered to be the ragini of Srirag:
bairārī karnāṭī dharī. gavarī gāvahi āsāvarī.
tih pāchai sindhavī alāpī. sirī rāg siu pāṁcaü thāpī. -Guru Granth Sahib 1430.

Rag Gauri is sung through different angs (styles or variations). According to Bhai Avtar Singh and Gurcharan Singh, Gauri is a rag sung through ‘Bhairav’ and ‘Purvi’ angs. According to Prof. Tara Singh, Gauri is sung in four different ways. The first is in Bhairav that and sampuran jati, second is in Bhairav that and aurav-sampuran jati, the third is in Bilaval that and sharav-vakar sampuran jati, and the fourth is in Purvi that and vakar-sampuran jati. According to Dr. Gurnam Singh, it is a rag that is sung in seven ways. The first is in Purvi that and aurav-sampuran jati, second is in Purvi that and vakar-sampuran jati, third is in Bilaval that and sharav-vakar sampuran jati, fourth is in Bhairav ang and aurav-sampuran jati, fifth is in Purvi that and aurav-sharav jati, sixth is in Bhairav that and vakar-sampuran jati, seventh is in Bhairav that ​​and sharav-sampuran jati. The contemporary Rag Gauri from ‘Bhairav that’ had also been accepted by the fourteenth century author poet Lochan. S. Gian Singh Abbottabad and Dr. Kanwaljit Singh have only mentioned the Rag Gauri of Bhairav ​​ang. Rag Nirnayak Committee has also accepted the Rag Gauri of Bhairav ang, whose description is as follows:

Description of Rag Gauri
That: Bhairav.
Svar (notes): Re, Dha (komal - flat), rest all notes natural/normal (shudh).
Varjit Svar (forbidden notes): Ga and Dha in ascending scale (aroh).
Jati: aurav - sampuran.
Vadi: Re.
Samvadi: Pa.
Aroh (ascending scale): Sa Re (komal - flat), Ga Re (komal - flat), Ma Pa, Ni Sa (tar saptak - upper octave).
Avroh (descending scale): Sa (tar saptak - upper octave) Ni Dha (komal - flat) Ma Pa, Dha (komal - flat) Pa Ma Ga, Re (komal - flat) Ga Re (komal - flat), Sa Ni (mandar saptak - lower octave) Sa.
Pakar/Mukh Ang (Main Part): Ma Dha (komal - flat) Pa, Dha (komal - flat) Ma Pa Ma Ga Re (komal - flat), Ga Re (komal - flat) Sa Ni (mandar saptak - lower octave), Sa.

Singing Time
The first quarter of the night.