Naṭhabhairavi is the 20th mēḷakartai in the sampūrṇa mēḷa systemii. It is the second raga in the fourth chakraiii (Vēda chakra). This rāga was known by the name Nārīrītigauḷa in the asampūrṇa mēḷa systemiv. The svarasv occurring in this rāga are ṣaḍja, chatuśruti riṣabha, sādhāraṇa gāndhāra, śuddha madhyama, pañcama, śuddha dhaivata, kaiśiki niṣādavi. Its ārōhaṇavii and avarōhaṇaviii are
S R2 G2 M1 P D1 N2 Ṡ – Ṡ N2 D1 P M1 G2 R2 S.
In Western music notation, if C is taken as the base or tonic note, then the scale is
C D D# F G G# A# C – C A# G# G F D# D C.
It corresponds to Asāvari Thāṭ of Hindustani music. This scale is equivalent to the Aeolian mode of Western music and Shur mode of the music of Iran.
It is a mūrchanakāraka mēḷaix and gives rise to Ṡaṅkarābharaṇa from gāndhāra, Kharaharapriya from madhyama, Tōḍi from pañchama, Kalyāṇi from dhaivata, Harikāmbhōji from niṣāda through the process of grahabhēda or modal shift of tonic.
Riṣabha, niṣāda are rāgachāyā svarasx and nyāsa svarasxi. Sa-ma, sa-pa, ri-pa, ga-da, ga-ni are vādi-samvādi svaras (consonant notes).
It can portray rasasxii like karuṇā (compassion) very effectively, just as it can convey the feeling of devotion or bhakti bhāva.
Some of the signature phrases of this rāga are
R G M, – P, D N D P M G, R, – R G M G G R R S Ṇ, Ḍ, – Ḍ Ṇ S, – G R R, M G G, M, – P D N, D, N Ṡ, – D N Ṡ Ṙ, – Ṡ Ṙ Ġ Ṁ Ġ Ṙ Ṡ N D N, – D N Ṡ N D P M, – P D M P, G, R, – R G M P D N Ṡ, N D P D N, – N Ṡ Ṙ,ĠṘ Ṡ N D N, – Ṡ N Ġ, Ṙ, – Ġ Ṙ Ṡ N D P M, – P, D N D P M D P M G R S, – Ḍ Ṇ S R G, R, S,
A few compositions in this rāga are-
Śrīvallī dēvasēnāpate
Pāpanāsam Sivan
Parula sēva
Rāmanāthapuram Śrinivāsa Iyengār
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
- Abhishek Raghuram (vocal)
- Ravi Shankar (sitar)
- Dr M. Balamuralikrishna (vocal)
Ambi Sunbramaniam presents Raag Nathabhairavi for his online audience.
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