Kēdara is an upāṅga janyai of the 29th mēḷakartaii Dhīraśaṅkarābharaṇa. It is a vakra auḍava-vakra ṣāḍavaiii rāga. The svarasiv occurring in this rāga are ṣaḍja, antara gāndhāra, śuddha madhyama, pañchama, kākali niṣāda in ascent. In addition, chatuśruti riṣabha occurs in descentv.
Its ārōhaṇavi and avarōhaṇavii are
S M1 G3 M1 P N3 Ṡ – Ṡ N3 P M1 G3 R2 S R2 G3, S.
In Western music notation, if C is taken as the base or tonic note, then the scale is
C F E F G B C – C B G F E D C D E, C.
Gāndhāra, niṣāda are rāgachāyā svarasviii. Pañchama and niṣāda are nyāsa svarasix. Sa-ma, sa-pa, ga-ni are vādi-samvādi svaras (consonant notes).
It can portray rasasx like vīra (valour), śānta (tranquil) and śṛṅgāra (romantic) very effectively, just as it can convey the feeling of devotion or bhakti bhāva.
Some of the signature phrases of this rāga are
G M P N Ṡ, N P, M G, R S, – S R S Ṇ P̣, Ṇ, – S M G M G R S R, S, – M G M P N, – Ṡ N Ṙ Ṡ Ṡ N P, – P Ṡ N Ṡ Ṁ Ġ, Ṙ Ṡ Ṙ, Ṡ, – Ṡ Ṗ, Ṁ Ġ, Ṙ Ṡ Ṙ Ṡ N P, – G M P N Ṡ, Ṙ Ṡ, N P, N P, M – G M P N P, M G, R S R, S Ṇ, – S P, M G, R S R G, S,
A few compositions in this rāga are-
Bhajana sēyave
Ānai Ayya
Rāma nī pai
Tyāgarāja
Marachēvāḍana
Tyāgarāja
Ānanda naṭana parkāśam
Muttuswāmi Dīkṣitar
Ambikāyāh
Muttuswāmi Dīkṣitar
Sakala kalā vāṇiyē
Pāpanāsam Sivan
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
Sanjay Subrahmanyum plays 'Thyagararajah Gurum', a composition in Raga Kedara.
Explore all our live and on-demand music courses guided by world-class maestros. From beginners taking their first steps to advanced students refining their craft, our globally accessible platform empowers you to learn, grow, and connect deeply with the tradition of Indian classical music
Visit our YouTube channel to see a huge range of our content archive