Nāgasvarāvaḷi is an upāṅga janyai of the 28th mēḷakartaii Harikāmbhōji. It is an auḍavaiii rāga. The svarasiv occurring in this rāga are ṣaḍja, antara gāndhāra, śuddha madhyama, pañchama, chatuśruti dhaivatav. Its ārōhaṇavi and avarōhaṇavii are
S G3 M1 P D2 Ṡ – Ṡ D2 P M1 G3 S.
In Western music notation, if C is taken as the base or tonic note, then the scale is
C E F G A C – C A G F E C.
It is a mūrchanakāraka janya rāgaviii. It gives rise to the rāga Hamsadhwani from madhyama through the process of grahabhēda or modal shift of tonic.
This scale is found in the music of many different countries.
Gāndhāra and dhaivata are rāgachāyā svarasix. Gāndhāra, pañcama and dhaivata are nyāsa svarasx. Sa-ma, sa-pa, ga-da are vādi-samvādi svaras (consonant notes).
It can portray rasasxi like vīra (valour) and adbhuta (wonder) very effectively.
Some of the signature phrases of this rāga are
D Ṡ D, P, – G M P D Ṡ D P M G P M M, G, – S G M, G S, – S G Ḍ, – Ḍ S G M P P M G, – G M D D P M P P M G M M G S Ḍ S G, – M G P M G S G M P, – P, P M P D P D, – D Ṡ D D P, – P D D P M, – G P M G S G M P D Ṡ D, D – D Ġ, Ṡ, – Ṡ Ġ Ṁ Ṗ Ṁ Ġ, Ṡ, – D Ṡ Ġ Ṡ D Ṡ D, P, – P D Ṡ, D P, M G P M G, – M G S G Ḍ, S,
A few compositions in this rāga are-
Śrīpate
Tyāgarāja
Garuḍa gamana
Paṭṇam Subrahmanya Iyer
Srī śaṅkara guruvaram
Maha Vaidyanātha Iyer
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
Web Links
1. Ambi Subramaniam (violin)
Ranjani & Gayatri present Raga Nagasvaravali.
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