Questions on Raga Malahari(Carnatic)
Kumar Neelakantan
Had questions about the Raga Malahari(Janya of Mayamalava Goulai)
1. What are the Chayya swara's, Nyasa Swara's, Graha Swara's of
Malahari?
2. What are the Prayogas?
3. Famous Kriti's, any varnams(Don't tell the Geetham's :-))
4. A query on Shruthi-Bhedam? Can Shruti-Bhedam be performed on
an Audava-Shadava raga like Malahari?
If so, does it yield any valid results? (Krishna? PJN? Srini?..)
5. Raganidhi says "Malahari is NOT a raga which is sung in concerts."
(emphasis mine) Any reasons, stories legends behind this.
Eagerly awating answers.........
cheers
kumar
--
Kumar Neelakantan e-mail: ku...@ee.rochester.edu
Dept. of Electrical Engineering voice-mail:(716)275-1252
Univ. of Rochester, Rochester NY 14623
Krishna Kunchithapadam
ku...@ee.rochester.edu (Kumar Neelakantan) writes:
:
:Had questions about the Raga Malahari(Janya of Mayamalava Goulai)
:
: 3. Famous Kriti's, any varnams(Don't tell the Geetham's :-))
: 4. A query on Shruthi-Bhedam? Can Shruti-Bhedam be performed on
: an Audava-Shadava raga like Malahari?
: If so, does it yield any valid results? (Krishna? PJN? Srini?..)
: 5. Raganidhi says "Malahari is NOT a raga which is sung in concerts."
:(emphasis mine) Any reasons, stories legends behind this.
The dhEkShethar kRthe ``pa~ca mAtha~ga muKa gaNapathenA
parepAlethoham'' is a very popular one.
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graha-Baedham _can_ be performed on asymmetric, BAShA~ga and
vakra rAgas. The following set of rules can be followed:
* List all svaras used in the rAga.
* Arrange them in a linear sequence (from madhya-Shadja to
thAra-Shadja).
* Perform the shift of tonic on each note to get a new set of
notes.
* Match the new scale to the original scale by eliminating/adding
notes as required.
In the case of an audava-ShAdava rAga like malahare, the shift of
the tonic note needs to be done for svaras that occur both in the
arohaNa and the avarohaNa. If the svaras in the ascending and
descending scales do not match, then the resulting scales will
not start and/or end on the Shadja note.
As far as malahare is concerned, the following are the scales
that result from a graha-Baedha:
malahare:
s: s r1 m1 p d1 S S d1 p m1 g3 r1 s
r1: s g2 p n3 S S n3 p g2 r2 s
g3: r1 m1 d1 n2 S n2 d1 m1 r1 s
m1: s r3/g2 d1 n2 S S n3 n2 d1 g2/r3 s
d1: s m1 m2 n1 S S n1 d1 m2 m1 s
The [r1] variant could be a janya of 6 maeLa rAgas---21, 23, 24,
57, 59, 60. However, I do not know of any rAga corresponding to
this scale.
The [g3] variant is a peculiar one since the scale does not begin
or end on the Shadja. It could be a janya of 3 maeLa rAgas---2,
8, 14. Once again, I do not know of a rAga corresponding to this
scale.
The [m1] variant uses 2 neShadha and a Dhivatha, hence it is an
invalid rAga.
The [d1] variant uses both madhyamas and could be a considered a
janya only of the dhvi-madhyama maeLa rAgas (all 12 of them, in
fact). I do not know of any valid rAgas that corresponds to this
scale. has two varieties of the neShAdha svara while the second
has two madhyamas).
--Krishna
Vidyasankar Sundaresan
Kunchithapadam) writes:
-
- As far as malahare is concerned, the following are the scales
- that result from a graha-Baedha:
-
- malahare:
-
- s: s r1 m1 p d1 S S d1 p m1 g3 r1 s
- r1: s g2 p n3 S S n3 p g2 r2 s
- g3: r1 m1 d1 n2 S n2 d1 m1 r1 s
- m1: s r3/g2 d1 n2 S S n3 n2 d1 g2/r3 s
- d1: s m1 m2 n1 S S n1 d1 m2 m1 s
-
-
Can't figure out the reasoning behind this one at all. The correct graha
bheda is
s: s r1 m1 p d1 S S d1 p m1 g3 r1 s (Malahari)
r1: s g3 m2 p n3 S S n3 p m2 g3 r3 s
g3: r1 g2 g3 d1 n1 S n1 d1 g3 g2 r1 s
m1: s r2 g2 p d1 S S n3 d1 p g2 r2 s
p: s r1 m1 m2 n2 S S n2 d2 m2 m1 r1 s
d1: s g3 m1 d2 n3 S S n3 d2 d1 m1 g3 s
The r1 variant can be a janya of 3 melakarta ragas, i.e. 69, 71, and 72.
Actually sounds like an interesting raga.
The g3 variant is not valid as it has two varieties of g's (or two r's if
you prefer to look at g2 as r3) in it. It cannot be a janya of any
melakarta.
The m1 variant can be a janya of 2 kartas, i.e. 21 and 57.
If you allow for the hypothetical 36 dwimadhyama panchama varja melas
(from 73 to 108), the p variant can be janya of 76, 82 or 88.
The d1 variant is also invalid as it has two varieties of d (or two of n)
in succession. This cannot be a janya of any mela.
Vidya
Srini Pichumani
>Malahari?
R sounds like the nyAsa svara for this rAga? Comments?
Regarding Graha svara, if you observe the "pillari" gItams of
PurandaradAsa and the kriti of Muttusvami Dikshitar, you will
find that all the Arohana svarams (excepting S) have been used.
shrI gaNanAtha M
kunta gaura D
keraya nIranu D
padumanAbhA R
pAnca mAtanga P
>3. Famous Kriti's, any varnams(Don't tell the Geetham's :-))
Dikshitar's kriti in this rAga is a classic. It goes as
"panca mAtanga gaNapatinA paripAlitoham"
and belongs to the set of gaNapati kritis known as
"Shodasha gaNapati" kritis (16 gaNapatis). It contains an
iconographic description of the deity in the opening lines
of the charanam.
varadAbhaya pAshasruNI kapAla danta
modaka mudgarAkShamAlA kareNa
>5. Raganidhi says "Malahari is NOT a raga which is sung in
>concerts."(emphasis mine) Any reasons, stories legends behind
>this.
There is no legend behind this. It is just a rare kriti.
The plain fact is that the kritis of the Dikshitar tradition
were relatively unknown -- in the concert arena -- until the
30s/40s of this century; due to the untiring efforts of
Justice T.L.Venkatarama Iyer and his disciples
(like DKP/DKJ/B.Rajam Iyer) these kritis gained currency.
-Srini.
Thyagarajan Mohan
>>1. What are the Chayya swara's, Nyasa Swara's, Graha Swara's of
>>Malahari?
>
>R sounds like the nyAsa svara for this rAga? Comments?
`ri' has to be stressed,especially in the avarOhaNam.However,to me
it sounds that the interval of oscillation (gamaka)is too much for a nyAsa
swara.(shaky platform).I am comfortable more(only)with `pa'.
>-Srini.
MOHAN