a. Sankirna raga, also called jod raga or mishra raga, is a concept to include two or more distinct ragas, making it into a single entity. Usually such a jod raga is composed of two ragas. However, in exceptional cases like raga Khat (original name is Shat) – six ragas are combined together to be rendered as one unit.
b. The composition of sankirna (jod) raga can be done in three distinct ways.
i. One raga in aroha and another raga in avroha
ii. Having one raga in the purvang and another one in uttarang.
iii. In this third method the performer uses his musical artistry to play one raga after the other in any part of the scale. This is done with great care to ensure that the rendering does not result into a patch work but the product appears to be a composite product with required musical value.
c. When you combine two ragas for e.g. Basant Bahar, Jayant Malhar etc., a significant question arises, as to which raga amongst the two, should be given greater prominence. Hence in a raga like Basant Bahar, many musicians believe that raga Basant should be given greater prominence than the raga Bahar. In practice (according to my experience), it is noted that by and large, musicians apply this principle, i.e. the first name of jod raga is given greater importance.
d. Usually there is a common note in a jod raga which could be treated as a transition point for effortlessly moving from one raga to another. Shuddha Ma evidently could be the transition point for sliding from Basant to Bahar or vice versa.
e. Bandishes or compositions covering sankirna ragas require special ability of the musician as a highly competent composer. He / she should ensure that salient points of both (or more) ragas are duly covered in the structure of the bandish – not an easy task. It is evident that composers and performers (as noted earlier) should have sufficient knowledge of intricacies of both (all) ragas involved.
f. There is a concept of ragang raga. It is believed that certain ragas are amenable more easily to be combined with another raga to make a musical entity. Ragas like Bahar, Malhar etc. are examples.
Important
g. Sankirna, jod or mishra ragas should not be mixed up with the concept prakars of ragas. For e.g. raga Bhairav, Todi, Malhar, Sarang, Kanada etc., each have several prakars. This is a distinct section of raga classification. Some examples are Ahir Bhairav, Prabhat Bhairav, Nat Bhairav, etc.