Gowlai - Vaiyathu Vaazhveergaal

வையத்து வாழ்வீர்காள் நாமும் நம் பாவைக்கு
செய்யும் கிரிசைகள் கேளீரோ பாற்கடலுள்
பைய துயின்ற பரமனடி பாடி
நெய்யுண்ணோம் பாலுண்ணோம் நாற்காலை நீராடி

மையிட்டெழுதோம் மலரிட்டு நாம் முடியோம்
செய்யாதன செய்யோம் தீக்குறளை சென்றோதோம்
ஐயமும் பிச்சையும் ஆந்தனையும் கை காட்டி
உய்யுமாறெண்ணி உகந்தேலோர் எம்பாவாய்


Raagam: Gowlai
Arohanam: S R1 M1 P N3 S
Avarohanam: S N3 P M1 R1 G3 M1 R1 S

Like mentioned in yesterday's post, Gowlai is the second raaga of the Pancharatna Krithis (Dudukugala). The other popular krithis in Gowlai is Pranamamyaham and Sri Mahaganapathi Ravathumam.

This is also a vakra raga with the GMRS prayogam. It is a janya of the 15th Melakartha Mayamalava gowla. MMG has been already discusssed on this blog. I am not aware of many cine songs in this raga except one by IR "Vedham Nee Iniya Naadham nee", though the janaka raga MMG has been very extensively used in film music.

Naatai - Margazhi Thingal

Also posted at vrangasayee.blogspot,com

மார்கழித் திங்கள் மதிநிறைந்த நன்னாளால்
நீராடப் போதுவீர்! போதுமினோ நேரிழையீர்!
சீர்மல்கும் ஆய்ப்பாடி செல்வச் சிறுமீர்காள்
கூர்வேல் கொடுந்தொழிலன் நந்தகோபன் குமரன்
ஏரார்ந்த கண்ணி யாசோதை இளஞ்சிங்கம்
கார்மேனிச் செங்கண் கதிர்மதியம் போல் முகத்தான்
நாராயணனே நமக்கு பறை தருவான்
பாரோர் புகழப் படிந்தேலோ ரெம்பாவாய்!



Raagam: Naatai Janya of 36th Melakartha Chalanaatai (This is the last raga of the suddha madhyama group).
Arohanam: S R3 G3 M1 Pa N3 S
Avarohanam: S N3 P M1 G3 M1 R3 S

This a vakra raga due to G3 M1 R3 S, For explanation on what is vakra ragam please see http://raagamudra.blogspot.com/2009/08/janya-raga-classification.html

Naatai is one of the 5 Gana (Heavy) Ragas and the first of the raga in the Pancharathna Krithis. (I may post about Pancharatna Krithis at a later date, will link this to that post then). It is interesting to note that the firs 5 pasurams of Andal Thiruppaavai as sung by MLV amma are set in the 5 raagas of Pancharatha Krithis (namely, Naatai, Gowlai, Arabhi, Varali and Sree). I would like to think this is not a mere coincidence. I tried to find a pattern for the rest of the raagas of thiruppaavai and couldn't. Maybe someone can help me spot it.

Jagadhanandakaraka, the first PR Krithi is set in Naatai. The most famous composition in Naatai is probably Mahaganapathim. You can see a filmy version of this in the movie "SindhuBhairavi". Narumugaiye from Iruvar, is set in Naatai.

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 :)

Karaharapriya

This is the 22nd Melakartha.

It's scale is
Aarohana: S R2 G2 M1 P D2 N2 S
Avarohana: S N2 D2 P M1 G2 R2 S

This is a very important and melodious melakartha and also important because it gives rise to a lot of janya ragas. Kharaharapriya has been decorated with compositions by many composers. All except the Dikshitars, including Muthuswami Dikshitar,[1] have composed songs in this rāgam. Thyagaraja has composed many in this rāgam. Muthuswami Dikshitar, one of the three most important composers in Carnatic music, has not composed kritis in Kharaharapriya, but has composed kritis in a closely related ragam Harapriya, which bears stark similarities to Kharaharapriya.[3] A few of the popular compositions are listed here.
Chakkani rajamargamu, Pakkala nilapadi, Mitri Bhagyame, Rama ni samana, Nadachi Nadachi and Rama neeyata by Thyagaraja
Moovasai konda thiruman by Muthiah Bhagavatar
Senthil andavan, Srinivasa Thava Charanam by Papanasam Sivan

This is often sung as a main piece in concerts and is very conducive for elaborate alapana and kalpanaswarams. Karaharapriya in Hindustani system is called the Kafi thaat.

Here's a carnatic piece sung by great MS. Play close attention to the rag alapana at the beginning. Such a wonderful KHPriya


Nice demo of KHPriya on Keyboard. Not as faithful due to the inherent limitation of playing carnatic on keyboard but nevertheless, a good rendition.


Some movie songs in this raga