Suraṭi is an upāṅga janya1 of the 28th mēḷakarta2 Harikāmbhōji. It is an auḍava-vakra sampūrṇa3 rāga. The svaras4 occurring in this rāga are ṣaḍja, chatuśruti riṣabha, śuddha madhyama, pañchama, chatuśruti dhaivata, kaiśiki niṣāda in ascent. Antara gāndhāra occurs in descent5. Its ārōhaṇa6 and avarōhaṇa7 are
S R2 M1 P N2 Ṡ – Ṡ N2 D2 P M1 G3 P M1 R2 S.
In terms of Western notes, if C is taken as the base, then the scale is
C D F G A# C – C A# A G F E G F D C
Suraṭi is a rakti rāga or a rāga which pleases instantaneously. It is an ancient rāga. Riṣabha and niṣāda are rāgachāyā svaras8 and nyāsa svaras9. M-N are vādi-samvādi svaras (consonant notes). It can portray rasas10 like adbhuta (wonder), karuṇa (compassion) very effectively, just as it can convey the feeling of devotion or bhakti bhāva. It is an auspicious rāga and is often performed towards the end of concerts.
Some of the signature phrases of this rāga are
R M P N N, – N D Ṡ N D P, – M P D M, G P, M R, M G R M S R, S, – Ṇ S R M, G M P, M, N Ṡ N, D P, – P N M, – P N D N Ṡ, – N Ṡ Ṙ, – Ṁ Ġ Ṗ Ṁ Ṙ, – N Ṙ Ṁ Ġ Ṙ, Ṡ N, – N Ṙ Ṡ Ṙ N, – N Ṡ Ṙ N, – N Ṡ N D P, – R M P N D N Ṡ, – Ṡ N D P, – M, G M P, M N Ṡ N D P M G R, -R P M G R M R M S R, S – S Ṇ Ṇ, Ḍ Ṇ S R, S,
A few compositions in this rāga are-
Ento prēmato (varṇam)
Tiruvoṭṭiyūr Tyāgayyar
Parāmukhamēlara
Tyāgarāja
Rāmachandra nī daya
Tyāgarāja
Gītārthamu
Tyāgarāja
Patiki hāratīre
Tyāgarāja
Aṅgārakamāśrayāmyaham
Muttuswāmi Dīkṣitar
Śrī vēṅkaṭagirīśam
Muttuswāmi Dīkṣitar
Kēḷano hari
Purandara Dāsa
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. Vakra-Sampūrṇa- A scale that has all 7 notes, but not in their usual
order. Auḍava-vakra sampūrṇa is a scale with 5 notes in ascent and 7 notes not in the usual order in descent.
4 Notes
5 There are 16 varieties of svaras in Carnatic music. They are
Sa (ṣaḍja)
ṣaḍja
Ri (riṣabha)
śuddha riṣabha
chatuśruti riṣabha
ṣaṭśruti riṣabha
Ga (gāndhāra)
śuddha gāndhāra
sādhāraṇa gāndhāra
antara gāndhāra
Ma (madhyama)
śuddha madhyama
prati madhyama
Pa (pañchama)
pañchama
Da (dhaivata)
śuddha dhaivata
chatuśruti dhaivata
ṣaṭśruti dhaivata
Ni (niṣāda)
śuddha niṣāda
kaiśiki niṣāda
kākali niṣāda
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.
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
Vasantalakshmi, R. 2007. Karnāṭaka Saṅgītaśāstra vāhini. Mysore: Bharathi Prakashana
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