Simhēndramadhyama

Simhēndramadhyama is the 57 th mēḷakarta1 in the sampūrṇa mēḷa system2 . It is the third raga in the tenth chakra3 (Diśi chakra). This rāga was known by the name Sumadyuti in the asampūrṇa mēḷa system4 . The svaras5 occurring in this rāga are ṣaḍja, chatuśruti riṣabha, sādhāraṇa gāndhāra, prati madhyama, pañchama, śuddha dhaivata, kākali niṣāda6 .

Its ārōhaṇa 7 and avarōhaṇa 8 are

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

This is a relatively newer rāga that finds mention in treatises from the early 18th century. It is one of the rāgas that have been borrowed from Carnatic music to Hindustani music.

It corresponds to Hungarian minor scale or Gypsy minor scale of Western music. It is a mūrchanakāraka mēḷa 9 . It gives rise to two other rāgas through the process of grahabhēda or modal shift of tonic, namely Māyāmāḷavagouḷa from pañcama and Rasikapriya from dhaivata. It offers ample scope for improvisation. Riṣabha, gāndhāra, madhyama and niṣāda are rāgachāyā svaras10 . Besides ṣaḍja and pañcama, riṣabha and niṣāda are nyāsa svaras11 . G-D, M-N are pairs of vādi-samvādi svaras12 .

It can portray rasas13 like vīra (valour), adbhuta (wonder) effectively and also convey the feeling of devotion or bhakti bhāva.

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.