Kanada

Kānaḍa is a bhāṣāṅga janya1 of the 22nd mēḷakarta2 Kharaharapriya. It is a ṣāḍava-vakra ṣāḍava3 rāga. The svaras4 occurring in this rāga in ascent are ṣaḍja, chatuśruti riṣabha, sādhāraṇa gāndhāra, śuddha madhyama, chatuśruti dhaivata, kaiśiki niṣāda. Pañchama occurs in descent5. Kākali niṣāda, which is an additional note that is not present in its parent rāga Kharaharapriya, is seen in the phrase S N3 D N2, D. Its ārōhaṇa6 and avarōhaṇa7 are

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

Kānaḍa is a rāga which has existed for a long time. It is a rakti rāga or a rāga which pleases instantaneously. Its instant appeal makes it an ideal rāga for ślōkas, viruttams, descriptions and even the rāgamālika svarakalpana8 segment towards the end of the rāgam-tānam-pallavi. Gāndhāra, madhyama, dhaivata, niṣāda are rāgachāyā svaras9. Other than ṣaḍja and pañchama, riṣabha, gāndhāra and dhaivata are nyāsa svaras10. R-P, R-D, G-N are vādi-samvādi svaras (consonant notes). It can portray rasas11 like karuṇa (compassion), vīra (valour) and śṛṅgāra (romantic) very effectively, just as it can convey the feeling of devotion or bhakti bhāva. The elongated gāndhāra in the avarōhaṇa brings out the mood of the rāga very well.

Some of the signature phrases of this rāga are

A few compositions in this rāga are-

Footnotes

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

2 Parent rāga

3 Ṣāḍava- A scale with 6 notes- Hexatonic. Vakra-ṣāḍava- A scale that has 6 notes, but not in their usual order.

Ṣāḍava-vakra ṣāḍava is a scale with 6 notes 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

6 Scale in ascent

7 Scale in descent

8 Spontaneous singing of notes in a garland of different rāgas

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

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

11 Emotions or moods.