Raag Bhimpalasi 

I have to admit, like many a music lover, I have also fallen in love with this naturally sweet raag. As Rajan ParrikarJi quotes in his music site,"The ati-madhur and ati-priya Raga Bhimpalasi has the penetrating power to infect the human mind and control it for days and weeks on end. There is as yet no known antidote to the Bhimpalasi contagion."
It is a raag we have been quite attuned to, Thanks to the many light music compositions extensively employed in Indian cinema.

I first learnt the simpler Drut composition, Jaa Ja re Apne Mandirwa, but it was an absolute pleasure to learn a beautiful khayal - Akhiyan Mori laag rahi, in Vilambit ektaal from my Guru.

I have a long way to go mastering this raaga, but I can say learning it made me immensely happy, and helped shape my vocal skills as well.
This raaga sounds very similar to Abheri ragam of Carnatic (derived, janya of Karaharapriya)

The structure of Raag Bhimpalasi is as follows:

Aroha: n' S g M P n S"                  Avaroha: S" n D P M g R S
The raag has komal Ni and Ga, shown here as n and g.
Jaati: Audava-Sampoorna raga, implying that it has 5 notes in Arohana and 7 in Avarohana.
Vadi: Ma                                         Samavadi: Sa
Pakad or Chalan: n' S M, M g, P (M) g, M g R S
Thaat: Kafi                                      Samay: Late Afternoon

This raag, just like Bageshree (which is also of Kafi Thaat) rests a lot on Ma, and is characterised by a beautiful Meend reprise coming from Ma to Komal Ga, with a meend on Komal Ga.
While Re and Dha are omitted in Aaroh, it comes back in Avaroh, and Dha is beautifully clustered with Komal Ni, to present a pristine phrase like g M P n D P. Re comes attached uniformly with Ga while descending back to Sa, as (M)g M g R, S.

I am sharing a short beginning Alaap I learnt from my Guru, which precedes our khayal. I hope to share the full recordings of my recital in Bhimpalasi later.

Live performance in Bhimpalasi from Guru Poornima concert - Vilambit Ektaal Bandish 
and a Drut bandish