Brindavani Sarang or Brindabani Sarang, also known as raga Sarang, is a
Hindustani classical
Hindustani classical music is the classical music of northern regions of the Indian subcontinent. It may also be called North Indian classical music or, in Hindustani, ''shastriya sangeet'' (). It is played in instruments like the violin, sita ...
raga
A ''raga'' or ''raag'' (; also ''raaga'' or ''ragam''; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a musical mode, melodic mode. The ''rāga'' is a unique and central feature of the classical Indian music tradit ...
. It is also called Vridavani Sarang. This raga falls under the category of
Sarang ragas.
Theory
Brindabani Sarang is a
Kafi
Kafi ( pa, ਕਾਫ਼ੀ (Gurmukhi), (Shahmukhi), Hindi: काफ़ी, Urdu: کافی, Sindhi:ڪافي) is a classical form of Sufi music mostly in the Siraiki, Punjabi and Sindhi languages and originating from the Punjab, and Sindh ...
thaat
A Thaat () is a "Parent scale" in North Indian or Hindustani music. It is the Hindustani equivalent of the term ''Melakartha raga'' of Carnatic Music. The concept of the ''thaat'' is not exactly equivalent to the western musical scale because t ...
raga
A ''raga'' or ''raag'' (; also ''raaga'' or ''ragam''; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a musical mode, melodic mode. The ''rāga'' is a unique and central feature of the classical Indian music tradit ...
. It was created by
Swami Haridas
Swami Haridas (1480—1573) was a spiritual poet and classical musician. Credited with a large body of devotional compositions, especially in the Dhrupad style, he is also the founder of the Haridasi school of mysticism, still found today ...
. The associated mythology being that he brought Lord
Krishna
Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one ...
to earth by singing this raga who took the form of an idol which can still be seen in
Mathura
Mathura () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Mathura district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located approximately north of Agra, and south-east of Delhi; about from the town of Vrindavan, and from Govardhan. ...
.
One of the famous Ragas for the Sarang , it is a popular of this family, together with Shuddha Sarang, and Madhyamad Sarang.
The name Brindavani Sarang is a testament to its popularity in the region around Mathura.
The notes ''Ga'' and ''Dha'' are not used in this raga.
A characteristic of all Sarang is the way ''Rishab'' (Re) is sung. The Rishabh is not accorded embellishments, so it is sung without any ''meenḍ'' of adjacent ''swara''s neither with any ''andolan''. This preeminence of Re makes the ''swar'' the ''vadi'' of this Raga as also for all other varieties of this family ().
Another dominant phrase is Sa - Ni - Pa, also used in many other ragas, notably the popular Kanhada family.
The distinguishing factor being that the Ni in Kanhada's S-N-P takes a ''kaṇ'' of the Pa (of ), with a effect, whereas the Ni of Sa-Ni-Pa in Sarang is rendered pure.
Brindavani Sarang's classification in thaat Kaafi is peculiar as it uses the shuddha form of "Ni" in its Aaroha, whereas the form of "ni" and "ga" is the main characteristic of the Kaafi thaat. So it is possible to make a mistake in identifying its thaat as
Khamaj
Khamaj () is a Hindustani classical Music raga within the Khamaj thaat which is named after it.
Many ghazals and thumris are based on Khamaj. It utilises the shuddha (pure) form of Ni on the ascent, and the komala (flat) form of Ni on the desce ...
.
This raga evokes the
sringara rasa - romantic love.
Aroha and Avaroha
Arohana
Arohana, Arohanam or Aroha, in the context of Indian classical music, is the ascending scale of notes in a raga.''Ragas in Carnatic music'' by Dr. S. Bhagyalekshmy, ''Glossary'' pages, Pub. 1990, CBH Publications The pitch increases as we ...
: N S R M P N S'
Avarohana
An Avarohana, Avarohanam or Avaroha, in the context of Indian classical music, is the descending scale of any raga.''Ragas in Carnatic music'' by Dr. S. Bhagyalekshmy, ''Glossary'' pages, Pub. 1990, CBH Publications The notes descend in pitch ...
:
Ni ''
svara
Svara or swara (Devanagari: स्वर, generally pronounced as ''swar'') is a Sanskrit word that connotes simultaneously a breath, a vowel, the sound of a musical note corresponding to its name, and the successive steps of the octave or '' ...
'' is ''Shuddha'' in ''Arohana'' and ''Komal'' in Avarohana.
Vadi and Samavadi
Vadi:
Rishabha
Rishabhanatha, also ( sa, ऋषभदेव), Rishabhadeva, or Ikshvaku is the first (Supreme preacher) of Jainism and establisher of Ikshvaku dynasty. He was the first of twenty-four teachers in the present half-cycle of time in Jain c ...
(re)
Samavadi
The Samavadi is the second-most prominent (though not necessarily second-most played) note of a raga in Indian classical music. The primary note of the raga is the '' vadi''; the vadi and samvadi are in most cases a fourth or fifth apart.
A '' ...
:
Panchama
Pancham is the fifth svara from the seven svaras of Hindustani music and Carnatic music. Pancham is the long form of the syllable प. For simplicity in pronouncing while singing the syllable, Pancham is pronounced as Pa (notation - P). It is al ...
(pa)
Pakad or Chalan
Ni Sa Re Ma Re Pa Ma Re Ni Sa
R M P n - PMR, M- R N S R-S
Organisation and relationships
Thaat
A Thaat () is a "Parent scale" in North Indian or Hindustani music. It is the Hindustani equivalent of the term ''Melakartha raga'' of Carnatic Music. The concept of the ''thaat'' is not exactly equivalent to the western musical scale because t ...
:
Kafi Thaat
Kafi () is one of the ten basic thaats of Hindustani music from the Indian subcontinent. It is also the name of a raga (Kharaharapriya) within this thaat.
Description
Kafi thaat makes use of the Komal Gandhara and Komal Nishad. So basically it a ...
Samay (Time)
Madhyanah (noon), Afternoon.
It is generally sung as Rajasthani folksongs.
Seasonality
It is generally regarded as a of summer season.
Rasa
Shringar Rasa: The Rasa of Romance. It creates a romantic and mystic atmosphere.
Related Raga
Madhumad Sarang has the Shuddha Ni dropped or Varjit (excluded).
It is still considered a chanchal raga.
Megh malhar has same notes but it is Dhrupad ''anga'' raga and is serious in rendering, with a lot of . Another distinguishing factor is that while Rishabh is used extensively in Megh Malhar (as also in Sarang), the Rishabh there takes a very strong meenḍ from Madhyam (Me), a salient in the singing of ''meenḍ''-heavy Megh.
Carnatic compositions
''Kamalaptakula'' by
Tyagaraja
Thyagaraja (Telugu: త్యాగరాజ) (4 May 1767 – 6 January 1847), also known as Thyāgayya and in full as Kakarla Thyagabrahmam, was a composer and vocalist of Carnatic music, a form of Indian classical music. Tyagaraja and his ...
and ''Rangapura Vihara'' by
Muthuswami Deekshithar
''Aathma Nivedanam'' by
Thulaseevanam
''Eke mamathe kottu'' by
Gopala Dasa
Gopala Dasa (1721–1769) was a prominent 18th-century Kannada language poet and saint belonging to the Haridasa tradition. With other contemporary Haridasas such as Vijaya Dasa and Jagannatha Dasa, Gopala Dasa propagated the Dvaita philosophy o ...
in
Kannada
Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...
''Arige Vadhuvade'' By
Purandara Dasa
Purandara Dasa (IAST: Purandara dāsa) ( 1470 – 1565) was a Haridasa philosopher and a follower of Madhwacharya 's Dwaitha philosophy -saint from present-day Karnataka, India. He was a composer, singer and one of the chief founding-prop ...
''Ranga banda brindavanadalli by
Vyasatirtha
Vyāsatīrtha (. 1460 – 1539), also called ''Vyasaraja'' or ''Chandrikacharya'', was a Hindu philosopher, scholar, polemicist, commentator and poet belonging to the Madhwacharya's Dvaita order of Vedanta. As the patron saint of the Vijay ...
in
Kannada
Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...
''Ananda Mayage'' By
Vadiraja Tirtha
Sri Vadiraja Teertharu (1480 – 1600) was a Dvaita philosopher, poet, traveller and mystic. A polymath of his time, he authored many works, often polemical, on Madhva theology and metaphysics. Additionally, he composed numerous poems and as ...
''Iko Node Ranganathana'' By
Sripadaraja
Sripadaraja ( sa, श्रीपादराज; ) or Sripadaraya, also known by his pontifical name Lakshminarayana Tirtha (1422 - 1480), was a Hindu Dvaita philosopher, scholar and composer and the pontiff of the Madhvacharya mutt at Mulb ...
''Amburuhânanâ'' by
Kalyani Varadarajan
Kalyani Varadarajan (8 October 1923 – 28 October 2003), commonly known as Kalyani, was one of Carnatic music's famous twentieth-century composers. She created carnatic compositions in all 72 melakarta ragas, besides scores of janya ragas.
Ear ...
''Kaliyuga Varadhan'' by
Periyasami Thooran
M. P. Periyasaamy Thooran (Tamil: பெரியசாமி தூரன்) (26 September 1908 – 20 January 1987) was a patriot, Tamil poet, teacher, and composer of Carnatic music.
Early life
Periyasamy was born to K. A. Palanivelapp ...
''Thillana'' in Brindavani Sarang by
M. Balamuralikrishna
Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna (6 July 1930 – 22 November 2016) was an Indian Carnatic vocalist, musician, multi-instrumentalist, playback singer, composer, and character actor. He was awarded the Madras Music Academy's Sangeetha Kalanidhi in ...
Film songs
Tamil language
Hindi language
Malayalam language
Other songs
References
*Bor, Joep ''(ed).'' Rao, Suvarnalata; der Meer, Wim van; Harvey, Jane ''(co-authors)'' ''The Raga Guide: A Survey of 74 Hindustani Ragas''. Zenith Media, London: 1999.
External links
SRA on Samay and RagasRajan Parrikar on RagasFilm Songs in Rag Brindavani Sarang
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brindabani Sarang
Hindustani ragas
Janya ragas (kharaharapriya)