1. The raag must belong to a thaat
2. It must be melodic in nature.
3. It comprises of a minimum five notes.
4. A raag must have Aaroha as well as Avaroha
5. Each raag has the note Sa present in it.
6. Each raag has either Madhyam and/or Pancham. Both these notes together can not be absent from a raag.
7. Two forms of the same note such as Shuddha Gandhar and Komal Gandhar cannot follow each other in succession (But there are exceptions to this rule). For example Raag Lalit takes Shuddha Madhyam and Teevra Madhyam one after the other, Raag Jog takes Shuddha Gandhar and Komal Gandhar one after the other.