Bilahari is an bhāṣāṅga janya1 of the 29th mēḷakarta2 Dhīraśaṅkarābharaṇa. It is an auḍava-sampūrṇa3 rāga. The svaras4 occurring in this rāga are ṣaḍja, chatuśruti riṣabha, antara gāndhāra, pañchama, chatuśruti dhaivata. Kākali niṣāda and śuddha madhyama occur in descent5. Kaiśiki niṣāda, which is an additional note that is not present in its parent rāga Dhīraśaṅkarābharaṇa, is seen in some phrases. Its ārōhaṇa6 and avarōhaṇa7 are
S R2 G3 P D2 Ṡ – Ṡ N3 D2 P M1 G3 R2 S.
In terms of Western notes, if C is taken as the base, then the scale is
C D E G A C – C B A G F E D C
It is an ancient rāga. It is a rakti rāga or a rāga which pleases instantaneously. It is a tristhāyi rāga, that is, it can be sung in all three octaves. Riṣabha, dhaivata and niṣāda are rāgachāyā svaras8. Riṣabha, pañchama and dhaivata are nyāsa svaras9. R-D are vādi-samvādi svaras (consonant notes). It can portray rasas10 like vīra (valour), śṛṅgāra (romantic), hāsya (joy), karuṇa (compassion) very effectively, just as it can convey the feeling of devotion or bhakti bhāva. It inspires enthusiasm when sung fast.
Some of the signature phrases of this rāga are
G P D Ṡ, – Ṡ N Ṙ Ṡ Ṡ N N D D, – D Ṡ N P D, P, – P D D P M G R, – R G D P M G R, – R G P, M G R, S, – S R G P M G R S Ṇ Ḍ, – S R G P, – D P M G R G, R – G P D Ġ Ṙ Ṡ, – Ṡ Ṙ Ġ Ṙ Ṡ N D, – P D N2 P D P M G R, – R G P D Ṡ,,, N M,,, G R, – G P D Ṙ N D P M G R, – R G M G, P M G R, S,
A few compositions in this rāga are-
Rārā vēṇugōpābāla (svarajati)
Inta choukasēya (varṇam)
Vīṇa Kuppayyar
Tolijanmamuna
Tyāgarāja
Nā jīvādhāra
Tyāgarāja
Dorakuna
Tyāgarāja
Kanugoṇṭini
Tyāgarāja
Intakannānanda
Tyāgarāja
Narasimha
Tyāgarāja
Śrī bālasubrahmaṇya
Muttuswāmi Dīkṣitar
Śrī madhurāpuri
Muttuswāmi Dīkṣitar
Paridānamicchite
Paṭṇam Subrahmanya Iyer
Śrī chāmuṇḍēśwari
Mysore Vāsudēvāchārya
Praṇamāmyaham
Mysore Vāsudēvāchārya
Pūraya mama kāmam (taraṅga)
Nārāyaṇa Tīrtha
Smara sadā mānasa
Maharāja Swāti Tirunāḷ
Footnotes
1 A derived rāga which has other notes in addition to the notes of its own parent rāga.
2 Parent rāga
3 Auḍava- A scale with 5 notes- Pentatonic. Sampūrṇa- A scale that has all 7 notes. Auḍava-sampūrṇa is a scale with 5 notes in ascent and 7 notes 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.
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
Links:
- U. Srinivas (mandolin)
- Srutti Sagar (flute)
- Ramakrishnan Murthy (vocal)
Sanjay Subrahmanyum presents a vocal performance of Raga Bilahari.
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