Bhairavi

Bhairavi is a bhāṣāṅga janya1 of the 20th mēḷakarta2 Naṭhabhairavi. The svaras3 occurring in this rāga in ascent are ṣaḍja, chatuśruti riṣabha, sādhāraṇa gāndhāra, śuddha madhyama, pañchama, chatuśruti dhaivata, kaiśiki niṣāda. In descent, śuddha dhaivata replaces chatuśruti dhaivata4. Its ārōhaṇa5 and avarōhaṇa6 are

S R2 G2 M1 P D2 N2 Ṡ – Ṡ N2 D1 P M1 G2 R2 S.

Alternatively, the scale is also given by

S G2 R2 G2 M1 P D2 N2 Ṡ – Ṡ N2 D1 P M1 G2 R2 S.

In terms of Western notes, if C is taken as the base, then the scale is

C D D# F G A A# C – C A# G# G F D# D C or

C D# D D# F G A A# C – C A# G# G F D# D C

This is an ancient rāga that dates back to the period of the grāma-mūrchana-jāti system7. It featured among the 19 pūrva prasiddha mēḷas8. It corresponds to the paṇṇ9 Kausikam. It is a major rāga that offers ample scope for improvisation. There are a number of compositions covering almost all varieties of compositional forms.

Riṣabha, gāndhāra, madhyama and niṣāda are the rāgachāyā svaras10. Riṣabha, madhyama, pañcama and niṣāda are the nyāsa svaras11. Chatuśruti dhaivata, in spite of being an additional note that is not present in the parent rāga Naṭhabhairavi, is a hrasva nyāsa svara12 and occupies a prominent place during delineation of the rāga.

It is a versatile rāga that can well bring out contrasting rasas13 like vīra (valour) and śānta (peace). It is also effective in portraying other rasas like śṛṅgāra (romantic) and the feeling of devotion or bhakti bhāva.

Some of the signature phrases of this rāga are

D P G, R G M P D P, – P D, D P M, – M P D2 N Ṡ, – Ṡ Ṙ Ġ Ṙ Ṡ N D P, – M N D P M G, R – R G RGM, GMP, MPDP M G, R, – S G R G M P D M, – D P G, R S, – Ṇ, G, R, – S R S Ṇ, Ḍ P ̣, – P ̣ Ḍ2 Ṇ Ḍ2 Ṇ, – R, Ṇ S

A few compositions in this rāga are-

Kāmākṣi amba (svarajati)

Śyāmā Śāstri

Viribōṇi (aṭa tāḷa varṇam)

Pacchimiriyam Ādiyappayya

Lalite

Tyāgarāja

Upachāramu jēsēvāru

Tyāgarāja

Upachāramulanu

Tyāgarāja

Koluvaiyunnāḍe

Tyāgarāja

Rakṣa beṭṭare

Tyāgarāja

Nīvaṇṭi daivamu

Tyāgarāja

Tanayuni brova

Tyāgarāja

Bālagōpala

Muttuswāmi Dīkṣitar

Āryām abhayāmbām

Muttuswāmi Dīkṣitar

Chintaya mā

Muttuswāmi Dīkṣitar

Nī pādamule

Paṭṇam Subrahmanya Iyer

Ōḍi bārayya

Purandara Dasa

Yāro ivar yāro

Aruṇāchala Kavi

Alamēlumaṅga

Tāḷḷapākam Annamāchārya (tuned by Vidwan Nedunuri Krishnamurthy)

Jaya jaya gōkulabāla (taraṅga)

Nārāyaṇa Tīrtha (tuned by Tiruvottiyūr Tyāgayyar)

Mandaṭi (padam)

Kṣētrajña

Footnotes

1 A derived rāga which has other notes in addition to the notes of its own parent rāga.

2 Parent rāga

3 Notes

4 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

5 Scale in ascent

6 Scale in descent

7 Ancient system of classification of scales.

8 Earlier system of classification of rāgas

9 System of rāga classification in ancient Tamizh music.

10 Notes which most effectively bring out the mood of the rāga

11 The landing notes for elaboration in various stages during improvisation.

12 A landing note which cannot be extended and has to be cut short while landing.

13 Emotions or moods.

Bibliography

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 Vidyālaya

Rajarao, 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

Carnatic

Bhairavi

Indrani Mukherjee performs Raag Bhairavi

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