Saurāṣṭra is a bhāṣāṅga janyai of the 17th mēḷakartaii Sūryakānta. It is an ubhaya vakra sampūrṇaiii rāga. The svarasiv occurring in this rāga in ascent are ṣaḍja, śuddha riṣabha, antara gāndhāra, śuddha madhyama, pañchama, chatuśruti dhaivata, kākali niṣāda. Kaiśiki niṣāda, which is a svara not found in its own parent rāga Sūryakānta, occurs in descentv. Its ārōhaṇavi and avarōhaṇavii are
S R1 G3 M1 P M1 D2 N3 Ṡ – Ṡ N3 D2 N2, D2 P M1 G3 R1 S.
In Western music notation, if C is taken as the base or tonic note, then the scale is
C C# E F G F A B C – C B A A# A G F E C# C
Saurāṣṭra is a rāga which has existed since olden times. It is equivalent to the paṇṇviii Viyazhakkuriñji.
It is a rakti rāga or a rāga which pleases instantaneously.
Riṣabha, dhaivata are rāgachāyā svarasix. Pañcama and dhaivata are nyāsa svarasx. Sa-ma, sa-pa are vādi-samvādi svaras (consonant notes).
It can portray rasasxi 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
N2 Ṡ Ṙ Ṡ, – Ṡ N D N2, D P, – P M N2 D P M G R R, – S, R G R S Ṇ Ḍ, – Ṇ S R S R, – G M, G R, – S R G, M P D N2, D P, – P M D, – D N Ṡ Ṙ, Ṡ, – Ṡ Ṙ Ġ Ṁ, Ġ Ṙ, Ṡ, – N Ṡ, N D N2, D P, – P M D, – Ṡ N Ġ Ṙ Ṙ Ṡ Ṡ,
A few compositions in this rāga are-
Śrī gaṇapatini
Tyāgarāja
Pāhimām harē
Tyāgarāja
Mēlukō dayānidhi
Tyāgarāja
Sūryamūrte
Muttuswāmi Dīkṣitar
Ninnujūchi
Paṭṇam Subrahmanya Iyer
Raṅganāthuḍē
Ponnaiah Piḷḷai
Nī nāmarūpamulaku (maṅgaḷam)
Tyāgarāja
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
Ramana Balachandran presents a Tyagaraja composition entitled "Ennado Rakshinchite" in Ragam Saurashtra.
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