Pūrvikalyāṇi

Pūrvikalyāṇi is an upāṅga janya¹ of the 53rd mēḷakarta² Gamanaśrama. This rāga was known by the name Gamakakriya in the asampūrṇa mēḷa system³ . It is a vakra ṣāḍava- sampūrṇa ⁴ rāga. The svaras⁵ occurring in this rāga in ascent are ṣaḍja, śuddha riṣabha, antara gāndhāra, prati madhyama, pañchama, chatuśruti dhaivata. Kākali niṣāda occurs in descent⁶ .

Its ārōhaṇa ⁷ and avarōhaṇa ⁸ are

In terms of Western notes, if C is taken as the base, then the scale is

Its closest equivalent rāga in Hindustani music is Raag Puriyā Kalyāṇ. It is a rakti rāga or a rāga which pleases instantaneously.

It is a tristhāyi rāga, that is, it can be sung in all three octaves. It is a major rāga that offers ample scope for improvisation.

Riṣabha, gāndhāra, dhaivata and niṣāda are rāgachāyā svaras⁹ . Other than ṣaḍja and pañchama, gāndhāra is a nyāsa svara¹⁰ . G-D are vādi-samvādi svaras (consonant notes).

It can portray rasas¹¹ like vīra (valour) and śṛṅgāra (romantic) very effectively, just as it can convey the feeling of devotion or bhakti bhāva. The elongated niṣāda and gāndhāra in the avarōhaṇa bring out the flavour of the rāga very well.

Some of the signature phrases of this rāga are

Footnotes

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

The above table gives you information on the notes as they are referred to between Sa on the middle octave to the Sa on the upper octave. It needs to be interpreted based on the Raga and its scale formation as given above. In the table given above, there are notes that use the same frequencies but, are spelt differently. For example, Rishaba 2 is equal to Gandhara 1, Dhaivata 2 is equal to Nishad 1. However, because of the ornamentation (Gamakas) most often the notes are not portrayed as it is played out on the Piano. There is a certain distortion in the frequencies making it difficult to identify the actual notes involved in the Scale formation.

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.