Ganamurti (pronounced gānamūrti, meaning ''the idol of music'') is a

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 ...

m in

Carnatic music Carnatic music, known as or in the Dravidian languages, South Indian languages, is a system of music commonly associated with South India, including the modern Indian states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, an ...

(musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is the 3rd ''

Melakarta Mēḷakartā is a collection of fundamental musical scales ( ragas) in Carnatic music (South Indian classical music). ''Mēḷakartā'' ragas are parent ragas (hence known as ''janaka'' ragas) from which other ragas may be generated. A ''melak ...

'' rāgam in the 72 ''melakarta'' rāgam system of Carnatic music. It is called Gānasāmavarāḷi in

Muthuswami Dikshitar Muthuswami Dikshitar (Mudduswamy Dikshitar)(, 24 March 1776 – 21 October 1835), mononymously Dikshitar, was a South Indian poet, singer and veena player, and a legendary composer of Indian classical music, who is considered one of the musical ...

school of Carnatic music.''Ragas in Carnatic music'' by Dr. S. Bhagyalekshmy, Pub. 1990, CBH Publications''Raganidhi'' by P. Subba Rao, Pub. 1964, The Music Academy of Madras

Structure and Lakshana

It is the 3rd rāgam in the 1st ''chakra Indu''. The mnemonic name is ''Indu-Go''. The mnemonic phrase is ''sa ra ga ma pa dha nu''. Its structure (ascending and descending scale) is as follows (see '' swaras in Carnatic music'' for details on below notation and terms): * : * : The notes used in this scale are ''shuddha rishabham, shuddha gandharam, shuddha madhyamam, shuddha dhaivatham, kakali nishadham''. As it is a ''melakarta'' rāgam, by definition it is a ''sampoorna'' rāgam (has all seven notes in ascending and descending scale). It is the ''shuddha madhyamam'' equivalent of '' Jhalavarali'', which is the 39th ''melakarta''.

Asampurna Melakarta

Gānasāmavarāḷi is the 3rd ''Melakarta'' in the original list compiled by

Venkatamakhin Venkatamakhin (; ) or Venkatamakhi, was an Indian poet, musician, and musicologist of Carnatic music. He is renowned for his '' Chaturdandiprakashika'' in which he explicates the melakarta system of classifying ragas. Venkatamakhin composed ge ...

. The notes used in the scale are the same, but the ascending scale is different. It is a ''shadava-sampurna'' raga (6 notes in ascending scale, while full 7 are used in descending scale).Shree Muthuswami Dikshitar Keerthanaigal, by A Sundaram Iyer, Music Book Publishers, Mylapore, Chennai * : * :

''Janya'' rāgams

''Ganamurti'' has a few minor '' janya'' rāgams (derived scales) associated with it. See List of ''janya'' rāgams for full list of rāgams associated with ''Ganamoorti''.

Compositions

*''Gānamoorthe sri krishna'' by Thyagaraja is a popular composition sung in concerts, set to ''Ganamurti''. *''Pāhi Jagadİswarā'' by Dr.

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 ...

in ''Ādi''

Tala Tala may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Tala (comics), a fictional character in DC comics *''Tala'', a 1938 volume of poetry by Gabriela Mistral *Tala (music), a rhythmic pattern in Indian classical music * "Tala" (song), by Sarah Geronimo ...

*''Brihadiswara rakshatuma'' in ''Eka''

tala Tala may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Tala (comics), a fictional character in DC comics *''Tala'', a 1938 volume of poetry by Gabriela Mistral *Tala (music), a rhythmic pattern in Indian classical music * "Tala" (song), by Sarah Geronimo ...

is a composition set to ''Gānasāmavarāḷi'' scale. *''Palaya Govinda'' in ''Ādi''

is a bhajan composed by Sri Ganapathi Sachchidananda Swamiji.

Related rāgams

This section covers the theoretical and scientific aspect of this rāgam. ''Ganamurti's'' notes when shifted using ''

Graha bhedam ''Graha Bhedam'' in Carnatic music is the process (or result of the process) of shifting the Tonic note (''śruti'') to another note in the rāgam and arriving at a different rāgam. Its equivalent in Hindustani classical music is called a ''mur ...

'', yields 2 other ''melakarta'' rāgams, namely, ''

Vishwambari Vishwambari is a rāgam in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is the 54th ''melakarta'' rāgam in the 72 ''melakarta'' rāgam system of Carnatic music. It is called Vamshavati in Muthuswami Dikshitar school of Carna ...

'' and ''

Shamalangi Shamalangi or Shyamalangi (pronounced ) is a ragam in Carnatic music (classical music of southern India). It is the 55th in the 72 ''melakarta'' rāgam system of Carnatic music, and is called ' in the Muthuswami Dikshitar school of that genre.' ...

''. ''Graha bhedam'' is the step taken in keeping the relative note frequencies same, while shifting the ''shadjam'' to the next note in the rāgam. For further details and an illustration refer '' Graha bhedam on Ganamurti''.

Notes

References

{{Janya, state=collapsed Melakarta ragas