Gānamūrti is the 3rd mēḷakartai in the sampūrṇa mēḷa systemii. It is the third raga in the first chakraiii (Indu chakra). This rāga was known by the name Gānasāmavarāḷi in the asampūrṇa mēḷa systemiv. The svarasv occurring in this rāga are ṣaḍja, śuddha riṣabha, śuddha gāndhāra, śuddha madhyama, pañcama, śuddha dhaivata, kākali niṣādavi. Its ārōhaṇavii and avarōhaṇaviii are
S R1 G1 M1 P D1 N3 Ṡ – Ṡ N3 D1 P M1 G1 R1 S.
In Western music notation, if C is taken as the base or tonic note, then the scale is
C C# D F G G# B C – C B G# G F D C# C.
It is a mūrchanakāraka mēḷaix and gives rise to Viśwambari from riṣabha and Śyāmaḷāṅgi from madhyama through the process of grahabhēda or modal shift of tonic.
Riṣabha, gāndhāra, niṣāda are rāgachāyā svarasx. Madhyama, pañcama are nyāsa svarasxi. Sa-ma, sa-pa, ri-da, ga-pa are vādi-samvādi svaras (consonant notes).
It can portray rasasxii like karuṇā (compassion) very effectively, just as it can convey the feeling of devotion or bhakti bhāva.
Some of the signature phrases of this rāga are
P,, D P M G, – G M P D N Ṡ N D P M G, – G D D P M G, – G R R, – S Ṇ Ḍ Ṇ S, – R G R S Ṇ, – S R G, M G M P, – P, D N D P M, – P D N, – Ṡ N Ġ, Ṙ, Ṡ, – D N Ṙ Ṡ N D P M, – G M G M P M P D P D N D N Ṙ Ṡ N D P M, – M P D, D P M G, – G M P M G, R, – S Ṇ Ḍ Ṇ P̣ Ḍ Ṇ, S
A few compositions in this rāga are-
Gānamūrtē
Tyāgarāja
Bṛhadīśwarō rakṣatu
Muttuswāmi Dīkṣitar
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
Audio Links:
- Vidushi Aruna Sairam (vocalist)
- Mahesh Mahadev (vocalist)
Sanjay Subrahmanyum presents Raga Ganamurthi with SJ Arjun Ganesh (mridangam) and KV Gopalakrishnan (kanjira).
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