Aṭhāṇi is a bhāṣāṅga janya1 of the 28th mēḷakarta2 Harikāmbhōji. It is a vakra auḍava-vakra ṣāḍava3 rāga. The svaras4 occurring in this rāga in ascent are ṣaḍja, śuddha riṣabha, śuddha madhyama, pañchama, kaiśiki niṣāda. Chatuśruti dhaivata occurs in descent5.
Its ārōhaṇa6 and avarōhaṇa7 are
S R1 M1 P N2 P Ṡ – Ṡ D2, N2 P M1 R2 M1 R2 S
In terms of Western notes, if C is taken as the base, then the scale is
C D F G A# G C – C A A# G F D F D C
It is a rakti rāga or a rāga which pleases instantaneously. It is well-suited to be performed towards the beginning of concerts. Dhaivata is a rāgachāyā svara8 and a nyāsa svara9. It can portray rasas10 like vīra (valour) very effectively.
Some of the signature phrases of this rāga are
M P Ṙ, Ṡ, – Ṡ N Ṙ Ṡ N Ṡ D, – P D N, D, – D N Ṡ, – N Ṡ Ṙ Ṁ Ṙ Ṡ N3 P D N P, – P D N,, Ṡ D,, N P, – P M R M S R, S, – Ṇ S R M R, – R M P N N P M, – P Ṙ Ṡ D, – P D D N N Ṡ – P Ṁ Ṁ Ṙ Ṡ P – Ṙ Ṡ D, – Ṡ D, – N P M P Ṙ, Ṡ,
A few compositions in this rāga are-
Anupama guṇāmbudhi – Tyāgarāja
Śrīpapriya – Tyāgarāja
Nāradagānalōla – Tyāgarāja
Rāmanāmame – Tyāgarāja
Ilalo praṇatārthiharuni – Tyāgarāja
Ēla nī dayarādu – Tyāgarāja
Bhajana sēyarāda – Tyāgarāja
Rārā raghuvīra – Tyāgarāja
Bṛhaspate – Muttuswāmi Dīkṣitar
Śrī mahā gaṇapatim – Jayachāmarāja Woḍeyar
Sakala grahabala nīnē – Purandara Dāsa
Footnotes
1 A derived rāga which has other notes in addition to the notes of its own parent rāga.
2 Parent rāga
3 Vakra-Auḍava- A scale with 5 notes- Pentatonic, but not in their usual order. Vakra- Ṣāḍava – A scale that has 6 notes, but not in their usual order. Vakra auḍava-vakra ṣāḍava is a scale with 5 notes not in the usual order in ascent and 6 notes not in the usual order in descent.
4 Notes
5 There are 16 varieties of svaras in Carnatic music. They are
Sa (ṣaḍja)
ṣaḍja
Ri (riṣabha)
śuddha riṣabha
chatuśruti riṣabha
ṣaṭśruti riṣabha
Ga (gāndhāra)
śuddha gāndhāra
sādhāraṇa gāndhāra
antara gāndhāra
Ma (madhyama)
śuddha madhyama
prati madhyama
Pa (pañchama)
pañchama
Da (dhaivata)
śuddha dhaivata
chatuśruti dhaivata
ṣaṭśruti dhaivata
Ni (niṣāda)
śuddha niṣāda
kaiśiki niṣāda
kākali niṣāda
6 Scale in ascent
7 Scale in descent
8 Notes which most effectively bring out the mood of the rāga
9 The landing notes for elaboration in various stages during improvisation.
10 Emotions or moods.
Hariharan, M. and Kuppuswamy, Gowri. 2011. Comparative Music- Fundamentals of Western Music. Nagercoil: CBH Publications
Keshavamurthy, R.R. 1964. Rāgalakṣaṇa mattu Rāgakōśa. Bengaluru: Gāna Viśārada Biḍāram
Kṛṣṇappa Smāraka Saṅgīta VidyālayaRajarao, Mysore L. 2003. Saṅgīta Śāstra Chandrike. Bengaluru: Karnataka Sangeetha Nritya Academy
Rao, B. Subba. 1980. Raganidhi. Madras: The Music Academy
Sambamoorthy, P. 2018 (reprint of eighth edition published in 1998). South Indian Music (Volumes 1 to 6). Chennai: The Indian Music Publishing House
Vasantalakshmi, R. 2007. Karnāṭaka Saṅgītaśāstra vāhini. Mysore: Bharathi Prakashana
TM Krishna presents in Raga Athani, a Ghanam Krishna Iyer composition entitled "Tiruvatriyur Thyagarajan".
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