Naḷinakānti is an upāṅga janyai of the 29th mēḷakartaii Dhīraśaṅkarābharaṇa. It is a vakra ṣāḍava-ṣāḍavaiii rāga. The svarasiv occurring in this rāga are ṣaḍja, chatuśruti riṣabha, antara gāndhāra, śuddha madhyama, pañchama, kākali niṣādav. Its ārōhaṇavi and avarōhaṇavii are
S G3 R2 M1 P N3 Ṡ – Ṡ N3 P M1 G3 R2 S.
In Western music notation, if C is taken as the base or tonic note, then the scale is
C E D F G B C – C B G F E D C.
It is a rakti rāga or a rāga which pleases instantaneously.
Riṣabha, madhyama are rāgachāyā svarasviii. Madhyama, pañchama and niṣāda are nyāsa svarasix. Sa-ma, sa-pa, ri-pa, ga-ni are vādi-samvādi svaras (consonant notes).
It can portray rasasx like adbhuta (wonder) very effectively, just as it can convey the feeling of devotion or bhakti bhāva.
Some of the signature phrases of this rāga are
M G R M P N, – P N Ṡ Ġ Ṙ, – N Ṙ N P M, – M P N Ṡ Ġ Ṙ Ṁ, – Ġ Ṙ Ṡ N P, – R M P N Ṡ Ġ Ṙ N Ṙ Ṡ P Ṡ N M N P R P M G, R S Ṇ – S G R P, M, – G R M P Ṡ N, – P N Ġ Ṙ N P M, – M N P M, G R S G, – R M, – R P, – M G R S Ṇ P̣, – Ṇ S G, R, – S Ṇ P̣ Ṇ, S,
A few compositions in this rāga are-
Nīvē gatiyani (varṇam)
Lalgudi G Jayaraman
Manavyālagiñcharādaṭe
Tyāgarāja
Nī pādamē gati
G.N.Balasubramaniam
Natajanapālini
Tanjavur Sankara Iyer
Nādirtanōm (tillāna)
T. Chowdiah
Dhīmtadhīm (tillāna)
Lalgudi G Jayaraman
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
TM Krishna (vocalist) performs Raga Nalinakanti with Akkarai Subhalakshmi on violin, Praveen Kumar on mridangam and Chandrasekhara Sharma on ghatam.
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