Bilahari

Bilahari is a rāgam in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is a '' janya'' rāgam (derived scale) from the 29th ''melakarta'' scale ''Sankarabharanam''. It is a ''janya'' scale, as it does not have all the seven '' swaras'' (musical notes) in the ascending scale. It is a combination of the pentatonic scale '' Mohanam'' and the '' sampurna raga'' scale ''Sankarabharanam''.''Ragas in Carnatic music'' by Dr. S. Bhagyalekshmy, Pub. 1990, CBH Publications It is a morning rāgam.''Raganidhi'' by P. Subba Rao, Pub. 1964, The Music Academy of Madras

Structure and Lakshana

''Bilahari'' is an asymmetric rāgam that does not contain ''madhyamam'' or ''nishādham'' in the ascending scale. It is an ''audava-sampurna'' rāgam (or ''owdava'' rāgam, meaning pentatonic ascending scale). Its ' structure (ascending and descending scale) is as follows:

* : they are used in every song

* :

The notes used in this scale are ''shadjam, chathusruthi rishabham, antara gandhara, panchamam'' and ''chathusruthi dhaivatham'' in ascending scale, with ''kakali nishadham'' and ''shuddha madhyamam'' included in descending scale. For the details of the notations and terms, see ''swaras'' in Carnatic music.

This rāgam also uses ''kaishiki nishadham'' (N2) as an external note (''anya swara'') in the descending scale. Hence it is considered a ''bhashanga rāgam'', a scale with notes external to the parent scale.

Popular compositions

There are many compositions set to ''Bilahari'' rāgam. Here are some popular '' kritis'' composed in ''Bilahari''.

*''Sharanu Janakana'' By Purandara Dasa
*''Belagu Javadi Baro'' By Vadiraja Tirtha
*''Lakshmi Shobhane'' By Vadiraja Tirtha. This is one of the greatest literary works of Vadiraja Tirtha with 112 Charanas and the longest composition known by a carnatic composer
*''Hanumana Maneyavaru'' by Vidyaprasanna teertha in Kannada
*''Na jeevadhara'', ''Dorakuna ituvanti'' and ''Kanukontini'' composed by Tyagaraja
*''Sri Balasubramanya'', ''Kamakshi Sri Varalakshmi'' by Muthuswami Dikshitar
*''Smara Sada'', ''Aaradhayami'', ''Gopalam Seveham'', ''Pahi Padmanabha'', ''Jaya Suganalaya'', ''Pahi Sarasanabha'', ''Santhatham Bhajami'' and ''Vimukhava Tava'' by Maharaja Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma
*''Parithana michite'' by Patnam Subramania Iyer
*''Sri Chamundeshwari'' by Mysore Vasudevacharya
*''Anaamilo mahaboob'' is a Khayal in Hindi by Maharaja Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma
*'' Puraya Mama Kamam '' is a Tharangam by Narayana Teertha
* "Raa ra venu gopala" a famous Swarajathi was composed in Bilahari
*Rabindranath Tagore has composed 'Ami Marer Sagor Pari Debo' In Raga Bilahari.
*" Intha Chouka" is a varnam composed by Veenai Kuppaiyer
Maa Mayura a Tamil Kriti composed by Mazhavai Chidambara Bharathi

Film songs

Language: Tamil

Related rāgams

This section covers the theoretical and scientific aspect of this rāgam.

Scale similarities

*''Mohanam'' has a symmetric pentatonic scale, with the notes same as the ascending scale of ''Bilahari''. Its ' structure is S R2 G3 P D2 S : S D2 P G3 R2 S
*'' Mohanakalyani'' is a rāgam which has the ''prati madhyamam'' in descending scale (descending scale of ''Kalyani'') in place of the ''shuddha madhyamam''. Its ' structure is S R2 G3 P D2 S : S N3 D2 P M2 G3 R2 S
*'' Garudadhvani'' is a rāgam which has the ascending and descending scales interchanged, in comparison with ''Bilahari''. Its ' structure is S R2 G3 M1 P D2 N3 S : S D2 P G3 R2 S
Desakshi is a raga which is similar to Bilahari. The arohana remains the same, while the sampoorna avarohana has Kaishiki Nishada in place of Kakali Nishada.

Notes

References

{{Janya, state=collapsed

Janya ragas