Kēdāragauḷa is an upāṅga janya1 of the 28th mēḷakarta2 Harikāmbhōji. It is an auḍava- sampūrṇa3 rāga. The svaras4 occurring in this rāga are ṣaḍja, chatuśruti riṣabha, śuddha madhyama, pañchama, kaiśiki niṣāda. Chatuśruti dhaivata and antara gāndhāra occur in descent5. Its ārōhaṇa6 and avarōhaṇa7 are
S R2 M1 P N2 Ṡ – Ṡ N2 D2 P M1 G3 R2 S.
In terms of Western notes, if C is taken as the base, then the scale is
C D F G A# C – C A# A G F E D C
It is an ancient rāga and corresponds to the Tēvāra paṇṇ Gāndhāra Pañchamam. It is a tristhāyi rāga, that is, it can be sung in all three octaves. It is a rakti rāga or a rāga which pleases instantaneously. Riṣabha and niṣāda are rāgachāyā svaras8. Riṣabha and pañchama are nyāsa svaras9. M-N are vādi-samvādi svaras (consonant notes). It can portray rasas10 like karuṇa (compassion) very effectively, just as it can convey the feeling of devotion or bhakti bhāva. It is widely used for description, in ślōkas and viruttams.
Some of the signature phrases of this rāga are
R M P, – P N D P M G R, R – R P M G R, – R M G R S, – Ṇ S R, S, Ṇ Ḍ P ̣,- P ̣ Ṇ S R, R, – RM P N D P, – M P N Ṡ N D P, – M P Ṡ N Ṡ, – Ṡ N D P N Ṡ Ṙ, Ṙ, – Ṙ Ṗ Ṁ Ġ Ṙ Ṁ Ġ Ṙ Ṡ,- P N Ṡ Ṙ Ṁ,,, Ṁ Ġ Ġ Ṙ Ṙ Ṡ Ṡ N D P – M P N Ṡ Ṙ, N Ṡ Ṙ, Ṡ N D P – M P Ṡ, N D P – P M P N D P – N D P- D P M G R, R, – R S Ṇ Ḍ P ̣ Ṇ,- S Ṇ S,
A few compositions in this rāga are-
Sāmi dayajūḍa (varṇam)
Tiruvoṭṭiyūr Tyāgayyar
Viribōṇi (varṇam)
Rudrapaṭṇam Veṅkaṭarāmayya
Vēṇugānalōluni
Tyāgarāja
Tuḷasībilva
Tyāgarāja
Karuṇājaladhe
Tyāgarāja
Lāli lālayya lāli
Tyāgarāja
Nīlakaṇṭham
Muttuswāmi Dīkṣitar
Abhayāmbikāyāh
Muttuswāmi Dīkṣitar
Parākēla nannu
Śyāmā Śāstri
Saraguna pālimpa
Rāmanāthapuram Śrinivāsa Iyengār
Anda rāma soundaryam
Aruṇāchala Kavi
1 A derived rāga which has notes only from 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
Audio Links:
- Sanjay Subrahmanyum (vocal)
- TM Krishna (vocal)
Dr. L. Subramaniam presents the varnam 'Saami Dayajooda' in Raga Kedaragaula.
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