Amrithavarshini

Literally, the meaning is 'one who showers amrit, the elixir of immortality.' It is a combination of two words: amrit and varshini.

Different schools of music place the origin of this raga under different melas. One school places this raga as the janya of the 39th mela Jhalavarali. But the present day Amritavarshini does not have any resemblance to the 39th mela. There are no compositions in this type of Amritavarshini.

The present day Amritavarshini could be placed as the janya of the 65th mela Mechakalyani. Or the 66th mela Chitrambari. It can be fitted to either of these melas as the raga does not have a Dhaivata. As the note Dhaivata is the only difference between Mechakalyani and Chitrambari, in the absence of that note, it could belong to either of these melas.

But the practice is to choose the earlier of the two ragas in case of such a dilemma.

Amritavarshini as it is sung today has the following Aarohana and Avarohana:

S G3 M2 P N3 S
S N3 P M2 G3 S

It is an Audava raga and is very melodious. It does not give scope for treatment as a major raga in a concert. One reason could be the absence of major compositions in the raga.

The very popular and frequently heard ones are Muthuswamy Dikshitar's 'Anandamritakarshini' in Adi Tala and Muthiaha Bhagavatar's 'Sudhamayee' in Rupaka Tala.

The raga is a hot favorite for ragamalika swara singing in ragam-taanam-pallavi.

There is a popular anecdote about this raga. It is said that while visiting Ettayapuram, a small village in Tamil Nadu, the great composer Muthuswamy Dikshitar was anguished to see the drought-hit arid land and people facing severe water shortage. Moved by their plight, Dikshitar looked up to the sky and burst forth in praise of the goddess in this raga. He beseeched Devi to bring rain and alleviate the plight of the drought-hit people.

He addressed the Devi as 'Anandamritakarshini, Amritavarshini'. When he sang 'Salilam Varshaya Varshaya', meaning 'let the rain pour', it is said the sky opened up. There was such a torrential rain that the place got flooded. He had then to plead 'Sthambhaya Sthambhaya', meaning 'stop, stop'.

This incident has given rise to the practice of musicians gathering together to sing this composition when there rains fail.

Wonderful rendition by T S Sreekumar


A unique Vocal+violin concert by a single person.


Film Music


Another Amrithavarshini

Hamsadhwani

HAMSADHWANI, a Janya Ragam from Melam 29 Dheerasankarabharanam
is an audava-audava (Pentatonic scale)
Arohana: S R2 G3 P N3 S
Avarohana: S N3 P G3 R2 S

The Rasa associated with this Ragam is "Vira" (Bravery). Majority of the compositions in Hamsadhwani are on Lord Ganesha and the rest (well almost) are on Lord Rama. Hamsadwani features as a Ragam in many Ragamalikas. An Anecdote: Once, Tiger Varadachariar, a renowned musician of yesteryears, was listening to a poorly rendered hamdashwani by some musician, and he quipped: This is not Hamsadhwani - but Himsa dhvani!! (Sound of torture).

Famous compositions in this raga are
Vatapi Ganapathim, Vinayaka, Raghunayaka.

Vatapi Kalpanaswaras by Aishu


A Tamil Film Song


A Song from the albunm Colonial Cousins


A Punjabi Pop in Hamsdhwani !!!

When is a scale a raga?

Here are some basic rules for calling a given scale a raga

1. The raga has its origin in a scale called ‘thaat’ or ‘mela’.

2. There should be at least 5 notes in a raga.

3. The 2 forms of a note i.e. flat and sharp, should not come in succession in a raga.

4. A raga has both ascending and descending (aaroha and avaroha) order of notes.

5. A raga should have the note ‘sa’ i.e. ‘do’ of the solfa notation.

6. A raga should have at least one note from ‘ma’ and ‘pa’, i.e. ‘fa’ and ’so’ of the solfa notation.

7. A raga should have both ‘vadi’ and ‘samvadi’ notes.

8. A raga should have an aesthetic value.

Janya Raga classification

What is a janya raga?

It is a "derived" raga from one of the 72 Melakartha ragas. This derivation may be by

1. Excluding one or more sware from the "parent" or the janaka either in aarohana or avarohana or both
2. Including one or more swaras that do not belong to the parent. Such swaras are called anyaswaras.
3. Reordering the swaras differing from their natural flow.

1. Exclusion of Swaras: When this happens we end up with ragas having 6 or 5 swaras in either arohanam or avarohanam or both. A raga that has 7 swaras is called a sampoorna raga. By definition all Melakartha ragas are sampoorna ragas.
A raga with 6 swaras is called a Shadava Raga. A raga with 5 swaras is called a Audava raga. A raga can have different number of swaras in Arohanam and avarohanam. Therefore you can have sampoorna-shadava or shadava-sampoorna, sampoorna-audava or audava-sampoorna, shadava-audava or audava-shadava, sampoorna, shadava-shadava or audava-audava ragas (phew!!!)
Examples:

Sampoorna: Any melakartha raga like Shankarabharanam or Kalyani.
Shadava Sampoorna: Kambhoji. Janya of Harikambhoji (28th Mela).
Audava Sampoorna: Saveri (Janya of Mayamalava Gowla 15th Mela)
Shadava Shadava: Sriranjani (Janya of KH Priya 22nd Mela)
Audava Shadava: Malahari (Janya of MMG 15th Mela).
Audava Audava: Mohanam (Janya of HariKambhoji 29th Mela)

2. Including Anyaswaras: A raga that is "faithful" to its parent is called a Upanga Raga and one that uses foreign swaras are Bashanga ragas. All of the above janyas mentioned are upanga ragas. The Bashanga ragas may have one or more anya swaras.

Example:
Bhairavi (janya of natabhairavi 20th Mela). D2 is used as an anyaswara in the arohana. It is a sampoorna raga with D2 in arohana but D1 in avarohana.
Begada (janya of Shankarabharanam 29th Mela). Uses N2 in the avarohana.

3. Reordering of swaras: A raga where the swaras are sung in a different order every time they occur. Such ragas are called Vakra Raga (or twisted ragas)

Example:
PurviKalyani (Janya of 53rd Mela -Gamanshrama). S R1 G3 M2 P D2 P S | S N3 D2 P M2 G3 R1 S
Sahana (28th Mela's Janya) S R2 G3 M1 P M1 D2 N2 S | SN2SD2N2D2PM1G3M1R2G3R2S :)