Kharaharapriya is a rāga in

Carnatic music Carnatic music, known as or in the 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, and Sri Lanka. It is o ...

. It is the 22nd '' melakarta'' rāga (parent scale) in the 72 ''melakarta'' rāga system. It is possible that the name of the ragam was originally ''Harapriya'' but it was changed to conform to the Katapayadi formula. ''Kharaharapriya'' has a distinct melody and brings out the ''Karuna'' rasam, invoking pathos in the listeners. The '' Kafi thaat'' of

Hindustani music 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, si ...

is the equivalent of ''Kharaharapriya''.''Ragas in Carnatic music'' by Dr. S. Bhagyalekshmy, Pub. 1990, CBH Publications''Raganidhi'' by P. Subba Rao, Pub. 1964, The Music Academy of Madras Its Western equivalent is the Dorian mode.

Etymology

There are many theories behind the etymology of the name ''Kharaharapriya''. One of the most popular beliefs is that the ragam was initially called Samaganam and when

Ravana Ravana (; , , ) is a rakshasa king of the island of Lanka, and the chief antagonist of the Hindu epic ''Ramayana'' and its adaptations. In the ''Ramayana'', Ravana is described to be the eldest son of sage Vishrava and rakshasi Kaikesi. ...

was trapped by

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hin ...

, under the kailash hill trying to lift it, it is believed that, to appease the lord,

sang many hymns in praise of the lord, but his heart cooled only when a hymn was sung in the ragam and hence the name ( hara) shiva and (''priya'') loved hence "Harapriya " – The one dear to Shiva, and to fit it in the Katapayadi system according to the melakarta chakra system. The word Kharaharapriya may also mean the beloved of the killer of the Khara demon (Khara – Khara demon, Hara – Defeater/Killer, Priya – Beloved). The story of Rama killing the Khara demon is narrated in the 28th, 29th and the 30th sub-chapter of the Aranya Khanda of

Ramayana The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th to 4th centuries BCE, and later stages e ...

. It could be speculated that this was a reason why

Saint 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 ...

revived this dying ancient raga in the 18th Century and breathed new life into it by creating many compositions in this raga.

Structure and Lakshana

It is 4th rāga in the 4th ''chakra Veda''. The mnemonic name is ''Veda-Bhu''. The mnemonic phrase is ''sa ri gi ma pa dhi ni''. Its ' structure is as follows (see ''swaras'' in Carnatic music for details on below notation and terms): * : * : The notes are ''chatushruti rishabham, sadharana gandharam, shuddha madhyamam, chatushruti dhaivatam'' and ''kaisiki Nishadam''. It is a ''sampoorna'' rāgam – scale having all 7 '' swarams''. It is the ''shuddha madhyamam'' equivalent of '' Hemavati'', which is the 58th ''melakarta'' scale. Since the swaras of ''Kharaharapriya'' are quite evenly spaced, and since several different types of '' gamakas'' are allowed, it is a very versatile, fluid and flexible rāgam that allows for elaborate melodic improvisation within its scale. Songs sung in ''Kharaharapriya'' ragas typically have long, elaborate '' ālapanās'', which exhibit the fluidity of the rāgam. ''Kharaharapriya'' songs are usually meant to be sung slow, medium or medium-fast, in order to bring out the ''Karuna rasa'' and '' bhava'' of the song.

''Janya'' rāgams

Due to the even spacing of ''swaras'', many ''

anya Aanya, Anya or Anja is a given name. The names are feminine in most cultures especially Indian, and unisex in several African and European countries. Origins and variant forms * Aanya or Anya is an Indian name that means inexhaustible, limitless ...

' rāgams (derived scales) are associated with ''Kharaharapriya''. It is one of the melakarta scales that has a large number of ''janya'' rāgams. Many of the ''janya'' rāgams are very popular on their own, lending themselves to elaboration and interpretation. Some of them are '' Abheri'', ''

Abhogi Abhogi () is a raga in Carnatic music and has been adapted to Hindustani music. It is a pentatonic scale, an ''audava'' raga. It is a derived scale ('' janya'' raga), as it does not have all the seven '' swaras'' (musical notes). ''Ābhōgi'' h ...

'','' Andolika'', '' Bhimplaas'' (Hindustani music), '' Brindavana Saranga'', '' Kāpi'', '' Madhyamavati'', '' Mukhari'', ''

Reetigowla Reethigowla, Reethi Gowla or Reethigowlai is a janya raga in carnatic music. It is associated with 22nd melakarta raga Kharaharapriya. It is Vakra Shadava-Sampoorna (Zig-zag raga with six notes in Arohana and seven in Avarohana).Visually und ...

'', '' Shree'', '' Dhanashree'', '' Udayaravichandrika'', and '' Sriranjani''. See List of ''janya'' rāgams for full list of scales associated with ''Kharaharapriya''.

Compositions

''Kharaharapriya'' has been decorated with compositions by many composers. The ragam is most closely associated with Thyagaraja who has pioneered in composing many songs in this rāgam, that have become popular and well known. Both Muthuswami Dikshitar and

Shyama Sastri Shyama Shastri (; 26 April 1762 – 1827) or Syama Sastri was a musician and composer of Carnatic music. He was the oldest among the Trinity of Carnatic music, Tyagaraja and Muthuswami Dikshitar being the other two. Early life and career Shy ...

, however, have not composed kritis in 'Kharaharapriya' A few of the popular compositions are listed here. *''Chakkani Rājamārgamu'', ''Pakkala Nilabaḍi'', ''Mitri Bhāgyame'', ''Rāmā nī samānamevaru'', ''Naḍaci Naḍaci'',''Peridi ninnu'', ''Chetulāra shrungāramu'', ''Kori sevimpa rāre'', ''Pāhi rāma rāma anuchu'', ''Vidamu sevayave'', and ''Rāma nīyada'' by saint Tyagaraja in

Telugu language Telugu (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken by Telugu people predominantly living in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, where it is also the official language. It is the most widely spoken member of the Dravidian language f ...

*''Satatam thaavaka pada sevanam'', by

Swathi Thirunal ( ml, സ്വാതി തിരുനാള്‍ രാമവർമ്മ) (16 April 1813 – 26 December 1846) was the Maharaja of the Kingdom of Travancore. He is also considered as a brilliant music composer and is credited with over 4 ...

*''Sundara Natarajam'' by Oothukadu Venkata Kavi in Sanskrit *''Moovasai konda thirumal'' by

Muthiah Bhagavatar Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavatar (15 November 1877 – 30 June 1945), commonly known as Muthiah Bhagavatar, is one of Carnatic classical music's famous twentieth-century composers. He also created about 20 '' ragas''. Early life Muthiah was bo ...

in Tamil *''Senthil andavan'', ''Srinivasa Tava Charanam'', ''Janaki pathe, Appan Avatharitha Kathamritham'' and ''Ganapathiye Karunanidhiye'' by

Papanasam Sivan Paapanaasam Raamayya Sivan (26 September 1890 – 1 October 1973) was an Indian composer of Carnatic music and a singer. He was awarded the Madras Music Academy's Sangeetha Kalanidhi in 1971. He was also a film score composer in Kannada cine ...

in Tamil *''Karunajalarase rama'', by

K. C. Kesava Pillai Kanakku Chembakaraman Kesava Pillai (1868–1914) was an Indian composer of Carnatic music and a poet of Malayalam literature. He was the Poet Laureate of Travancore and was known for ''Kesaveeyam'', a mahakavya in Malayalam, two Attakatha (perf ...

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry ( Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam wa ...

* ''Bharathi deviya nene'' 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 ...

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 ...

and ''Okkaparikokkapari'' and ''Nityapujalivigo'' by Annamacharya in

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

have now been tuned in Kharaharapiya since the original tunes have been lost forever. * Nama Rasa Manave by Kalyani Varadarajan The basic scale of ''Kharaharapriya'' has been used in several film songs in

Indian film music Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

. Although rarely authentic, there are several film songs that are set in this scale, or scales derived from this ragam. The popular Kannada song 'Arādhisuve madanāri', from the movie Babhruvahana (1977) and sung by Dr. Rajkumar, is in typical Kharaharapriya. A popular Tamil film composer M.S.Viswanathan used this raga brilliantly in many of his songs such as "Maharajan Ullagai" from '' Karnan'', "Maadhavi Ponmayilal" in the movie

Iru malargal ''Iru Malargal'' () is a 1967 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film directed by A. C. Tirulogchander. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan, Padmini and K. R. Vijaya, with Nagesh, S. A. Ashokan, V. Nagayya, Manorama and Roja Ramani in support ...

. Ace singer P. Unnikrishnan released his 2012 album on Lord

Ayyappan Ayyappan an incarnation of dharma sastha, also called Manikandan, is a Hindu deity popular in Southern India, He is considered to be the epitome of dharma, truth, and righteousness and is often called upon to obliterate evil. Although devotio ...

titled ''Shabaimalai Va Charanam Solli Va'' in which he has rendered a song in Kharaharapriya raagam set in classical melody. The song also illustrates how the Lord learnt the Kalari fight in Cheerappanchira which houses a temple called Mukkal Vattam managed by Lord's Guruvamsam even now.Song set in Kharaharapriya on Mukkal vattam Ayyappan
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Film Songs

Language: Tamil

Janya 1:Ragam Karnaranjani Tamil

Ascending:S R2 G2 M1 G2 P D2 S Descending:S N2 D2 P M1 G2 R2 S The Hindi song 'Tumhen Dekhti Hoon To' from movie Tumhare Liye composed by Jaidev sung by

Lata Mangeshkar Lata Mangeshkar () (born as Hema Mangeshkar; 28 September 1929 – 06 February 2022) was an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer. She is widely considered to have been the greatest and most influential singers in India. Her con ...

was based on Ragam Karnaranjani too.

Related rāgams

This section covers the theoretical and scientific aspect of this rāgam. ''Kharaharapriya's'' notes when shifted using '' Graha bhedam'', yields 5 other major ''melakarta'' rāgams, namely, ''

Kalyani Kalyani may refer to: Film and television * ''Kalyani'' (1940 film), a Hindi film * ''Kalyani'' (1952 film), a Tamil film * ''Kalyani'' (1971 film), a Kannada film * ''Kalyani'' (1979 film), a Telugu film * ''Kalyani'' (1983 film), an Oriya ...

'', ''

Hanumatodi Hanumatodi, more popularly known as Todi (pronounced hanumatōdi and tōdi), is a rāgam (musical scale) in Carnatic music. It is the 8th '' melakarta'' rāgam (parent scale) in the 72 ''melakarta'' rāgam system. This is sung very often in con ...

'', '' Natabhairavi'', '' Shankarabharanam'' and '' Harikambhoji''. For further details and an illustration of ''Graha bhedam'' of this rāgam refer '' Graha bhedam on Shankarabharanam''.

Notes

References

{{Janya, state=collapsed Melakarta ragas