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RAgam, ThAnam, Pallavi - fascinating facts!

SANDHYAV said:
.....1. sindhubhairavi is a ragam?

2. thanam is a verbal pronunciation of taps like tathikinathom set to a talam?
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1. Sindhubhairavi is a beautiful rAgam that we took from the North Indian music. It is supposed to have all first swarams like the

rAgam ThOdi. ArOhaNam: S G2 M1 P D1 N2 S' and avarOhaNam: S' N2 D1 P M1 G2 R1 S in the three numbering system of swarams.

The four anya swarams (viz) R2 (s r g r G...) M2 (m1 m2 d1 m2 g which is a rare prayOgam) D2 (d D n d s' n d p) N3 (N s' R s' D1) add

unique beauty to this rAgam. In fact my most favorite is this rAgam and I teach my students at least four songs in this rAgam -

either the full song in this rAgam or this rAgam as one in a rAgamAlikai song! :)

2. ThAnam is a special form which is based on the delineation of the rAgam but in a rhythmic pattern. These are not like learning the

already composed varNams but depends on the imagination of the artist. 'thA' 'nam' 'thom' 'tha' 'thAna' 'Anadha' are the syllables

used in thAnam. The ultimate aim is 'Anandham'! :)

I have heard a stunning thAnam played by the Veena maestro Sri. Chitti Babu with Guruvayoor Durai accompanying the thAnam

with his mridhangam! Is was an awesome experience! :thumb:
 
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Raji Ram said:
One more interesting rAgam for fascinating sruthi bEdham is MOhanam. ....
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There is an interesting episode to share here!

I was teaching the ArOhaNam and avarOhaNam of SuddhasAvEri (song ThAyE Tripurasundhari ). When my student played the

avarOhaNam of this rAgam on veena - S'.. D P M R S - she told me that it is like ending of the AVM tune!! I told her that AVM tune

is set to MOhanam! Then realized this sruthi bEdham:

I notate the AVM tune as: S . . R G P D p D . . . . P G R S R . . . . P . . G R S D. P. (last D. P. are lower notes) in MOhanam.

But she thought it as: M . . P D S' R' s' R' . . . . S' D P M P . . . . S' . . D P M R S ( ending tune is avarOhanam of SuddhasAvEri!) :cool:
 
For people who have only keLvi gnanam there is a beautiful website called ragasurabhi.com. This website has discussions on various ragas, including rare ones, and how to distinguish between similar sounding ragas etc. Members interested in knowing the rudiments of carnatic music may find this website beneficial. This site is maintained by Smt Lalita Sivakumar, mother of Smt Nityashri.
 

I learnt the song 'Chinnanj chiRu kiLiyE' when I was young and thought that the last stanza, 'un kaNNil neer vazhindhAl'

was set to Sivaranjani and that stanza alone is sung in Madhyama sruthi! Later on I knew that the rAgam is 'NeelamaNi'

and that stanza is also sung in the normal sruthi!

This example will show how it is... You may remember the tune played before the commencement of programs

in All India Radio.

If the swarams are taken as: g' r' G' . . . . . . . . r' s' D . . . . . . . r' s' d P . . . d s' d P . . . . . . the rAgam is Sivaranjani.

If the swarams are taken as: d p D . . . . . . . . p m R . . . . . . . p m r S . . . . r m r S . . . . . . . the rAgam is NeelamaNi.

Sivaranjani - ArOhaNam: S R2 G2 P D2 S' - avarOhaNam: S' D2 P G2 R2 S in the three number system of swarams.

NeelamaNi - ArOhaNam: S R2 M1 P D1 S' - avarOhaNam: S' D2 P M1 R2 S in the three number system of swarams.

The rAgam NeelamaNi swarams have this pattern: S - R - - M - P D - - - S'

Taking Madhyama sruthi, the same pattern will be: S - R G - - - P - D - - S' which is Sivaranjani. :thumb:
 

Dear Sandhya,

Yes! You can say sruthi bEdhams are RAgamAlikA because different rAgams are shown. But in any rAgamAlikA the sruthi remains

constant but sometimes when the rAgams which should be sung in Madhyama sruthi appear, the normal sruthi is suddenly shifted

to Madhyamam. Those rAgamalikAs have more appeal! :thumb:

'KuRai ondrum illai' and 'chinnanj chiRu kiLiyE' are the ever green rAgamAlikAs, according to me. :)
 

A person who has ONLY kELvi gnAnam can identify many rAgams easily with the prominent phrases. For example

what I wrote earlier about 'KEdhAragowla' and 'SahAnA'. The following are a few more prominent phrases:

g m n d M . . . n N S' - Reethigowla

s S p P . . . p pdnd M . . . - HusEni

m P R' s' S' . . . s'nr's' D . . . - atANA

g m p D p S' n R' S' . . . - BEgada

p n S'rs' N . . . r' s' D p . - DhanyAsi

r R M M M . . . m p m P m G R . . - MukhAri and so on.

But, to find out the janya rAgams (especially that of MAyAmALavagowla - they all have almost the same type of gamakams)

a person should posses 'swara gnAnam'. The rAgam can be identified correctly only by their ArOhaNam and avarOhaNam!

Examples ........... tomorrow! :)
 

Two of the janya rAgams of MayAmALavagowla are GuntakriyA and Gowlibandhu.

The ArOhaNam and avarOhaNams are:

GuntakriyA: S R1 M1 P N3 S' - S' N3 P D1 P M1 G3 R1 S.

GowLibandhu: S R1 M P N3 S' - S' N3 P D1 M1 G3 R1 S

Two of the janya rAgams of Sooryakantham are Supradeepam and Bairavam.

The ArOhaNam and avarOhaNams are:

Supradeepam: S R1 M1 P D2 N3 S' - S' N3 D2 P M1 G3 M1 R1 S

Bairavam: S R1 G3 M1 P D2 N3 S' - S' D2 P M1 G3 R1 S

Unless we find the swarams, it is difficult to differentiate the rAgams.

Of course, if the song is a well known like 'Inthanusu varNimpa' (GuntakriyA);

'TheradeeyakarAdha' (GowLibandhu); 'Varasiki vAhana' (Supradeepam) and

'MariyAdha kAdhaiyyA' (Bairavam) the rAgams could be identified easily! :)
 
Chip in mukhari here:

Mukhari and Bhairavi
There are a number of raagas in Carnatic music that are closely allied to Mukhari, the most prominent of them being Bhairavi.

the tone(bhAvam) of mukhAri and bhairavi are used in depicting sadness and ‘a pleading request’ respectively?

A fast phase of Mukhari is here
09 S Sowmya Folk Song thondu Mukhari - YouTube

There is no sadness in this song. it's folsksy!

What is swarUpam and what is bhAvam? I guess swarupam is the ragas character and bhavam is what an artist makes of it? LOL that is toxic musicology
 

MukhAri is established with this phrase: 'n d S' R' . . R' . . R' . . R' g's' which can not appear in Bhairavi.

I think MukhAri has its own swaroopam! And Bhairavi has its own. Now, the swaroopam of a rAgam can be compared to its

appearance. Once, the famous critic Sri. Subbudu wrote about Sri. Balamuralikrishna's KalyANi alApanai as: 'KalyANi pyjAmA

jibbAvil vandhaaL' - meaning that it had much more of North Indian music touch! BhAvam - the feel of the song - may differ

with the lyrics of the song. The artist should bring that bhAvam of the following song in the rAga alApanai itself. :thumb:

P.S: There is a love song set to MukhAri in film music.
 
The song Kanavu kanden naan reminds the tune of 'Anandham Anandham AnandhamE' which is played soon after the mAngalyam is

tied in weddings! Surprisingly it is in MukhAri rAgam! I think the original tune might have been in Anandhabairavi and changed later to

MukhAri by wrong practice of swarams. If the phrase 's G r G M P D P' is changed to 'R m M P P D P' Anandhabairavi becomes MukhAri!

Marriage Songs - Anandham Anandham Anandhame

The above song it starts like Anandhabairavi and ends up in MukhAri!!
 

The rAgams which have sAdhAraNa GAndhAram without gamakam can be easily sung / played with a sad touch.

Examaples: BhoopAlam (song SadhAchalEswaram), DhEnukA, KalyANavasantham, Sivaranjani, SubhapanthuvarALi,

Bhavani (janya rAgam of BhavapriyA).

P.S: The rAgam NeelamaNi has a sad touch, may be because it is a sruthi bEdham of Sivaranjani! :)
 
Kanda Nadai is nothing but the thALam with each count consisting of 5. The basic jathi is 'tha ka tha ki ta'. So, any thALam like

Adhi, Roopakam, Jampa can have kanda nadai.

Thani Avarthanam is the portion played by the percussion artists, after the main song of the concert. Sometimes it will be two

thani Avarthanams, one after the main song and the other after the R T P. If more than one artist is present, the mridhangam

artist takes the lead, followed by the others. The final bit will be played by all the artists together.
 

Before the New Year, let me finish posting about sad notes!!

Suddha Rishabham is a sad note especially in a rAgam with suddha daivadham or kaisiki NishAdham.

KarnAtaka SuddhasAvEri and REvathi are good examples.
 
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Happy New Year to all my forum friends! :)

Let us start this new year with the happy swarams. :dance:

SankarAbharaNam and KalyANi comes to my mind when I thing of happy swarams. The combination of three of more second

swarams makes a rAgam with a happy note. But, if chathusruthi Rishabham and chathusruthi Daivadham are present, it is

sure to give a happy bhAvam! Have you heard 'NirOstA'? - the rAgam which has S R2 G3 D2 N3 S'; S' N3 D2 G3 R2 S.

Here it is - as great as MOhanam:

Priya Sisters - rAja rAja rAdhithe nAda - rAga Niroshta - Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavathar

P.S: More about NirOstA: Niroshta
 

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