Dhīraśankarābharaṇaṃ, commonly known as ''Śankarābharaṇaṃ'', is a
rāga
A ''raga'' or ''raag'' (; also ''raaga'' or ''ragam''; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a melodic mode. The ''rāga'' is a unique and central feature of the classical Indian music tradition, and as ...
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 ...
. It is the 29th ''
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 ...
'' rāga in the 72 ''Melakarta'' rāga system of Carnatic music. Since this raga has many Gamakās (ornamentations), it is glorified as ''"Sarva Gamaka Maaṇika Rakti Rāgaṃ".''
By scale wise, the Śankarābharaṇaṃ scale corresponds to ''
Bilaval'' in the
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, sit ...
system. The Western equivalent is the major
scale, or the ''
Ionian mode
Ionian mode is a musical mode or, in modern usage, a diatonic scale also called the major scale.
It is the name assigned by Heinrich Glarean in 1547 to his new authentic mode on C (mode 11 in his numbering scheme), which uses the diatonic octav ...
''.
[''Ragas in Carnatic music'' by Dr. S. Bhagyalekshmy, Pub. 1990, CBH Publications][''Raganidhi'' by P. Subba Rao, Pub. 1964, The Music Academy of Madras] Hence this rāga is one of the most popular scales across the world, known with different names in different musical styles.
Its nature is mellifluous and smooth. This rāga offers a large scope for compositions. It is ideal for a melodious, but still laid back majestic presentation.
Structure and Lakshana
![Shankarabharanam scale](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b6/Shankarabharanam_scale.svg)
It is the 5th rāga in the 5th ''Chakra Bāṇa''. The mnemonic name is ''Bāṇa-Ma''. The mnemonic phrase is ''sa ri ga ma pa da ni sa
Its structure is as follows (see
''swaras'' in Carnatic music for details on below notation and terms):
*
:
*
:
The notes in this scale are ''shadjam, chatushruti rishabham, antara gandharam, shuddha madhyamam, paṅchamam, chatushruti dhaivatam'' and ''Kakali Nishadam''. As it is a ''Melakarta'' rāga, by definition it is a
''Sampurṇa'' rāga (has all seven notes in ascending and descending scale). It is the ''Shuddha Madhyamam'' equivalent of 65th ''Melakarta'' rāga ''
Kaḷyāṇi''.
''Janya'' Rāgas
Due to the even spacing of ''svarās'', many ''janya'' rāgas can be derived from ''Śaņkarābharaṇaṃ''. It is one of the ''melakarta'' rāgas that has high number of ''Janya'' rāgas (derived scales) associated with it.
Many of the ''Janya'' rāgas are very popular on their own, lending themselves to elaboration, interpretation and evoking different moods. Some of them are ''
Arabhi
Arabhi or Aarabhi (pronounced ārabhi) is a ragam (musical scale) in Carnatic music (South Indian classical music). It is a ''Janya'' raga (derived scale), whose ''Melakarta'' raga (parent scale, also known as ''janaka'') is '' Shankarabharana ...
'', ''
Atana
Atana or AThana (अठाण / अठाणा) is a raga (musical scale) in Carnatic music (South Indian classical music). It is a ''Janya'' raga (derived scale), whose ''Melakarta'' raga (parent, also known as ''janaka'') is ''Sankarabharan ...
'', ''
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 ' ...
'', ''
Devagaandhaari'', ''
Jana Ranjani'', ''
Hamsadhvani
Hamsadhvani (meaning "the cry of the swan"), is a rāga in Carnatic music (musical scale of Carnatic tradition of Indian classical music). It is an ''audava'' rāgam (or ''owdava'' rāga, meaning pentatonic scale). It is a ''janya'' rāga of the ...
'', ''Kadanakutuhalam'', ''
Niroshta
Niroshta is a rāgam in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is a pentatonic scale (''audava''/''owdava'' rāgam). It is a derived scale (''janya'' rāgam), as it does not have all the seven ''swaras'' (musical not ...
'', ''
Shuddha Sāveri'', ''Pahādi'', Purnachandrika, Janaranjani,
Kedaram
Kedaram (pronounced kēdāram) is a rāgam in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is a derived scale (''janya'' rāgam) from '' Shankarabharanam'', the 29th ''Melakarta'' rāgam.''Ragas in Carnatic music'' by Dr. ...
, Kurinji, Navroj, Sarasvati-manohari, Naagadhvani etc.
See
List of ''Janya'' rāgas for full list of rāgas associated with ''Śaṃkarābharaṇaṃ''.
Compositions
''Śankarābharaṇaṃ'' has been decorated with compositions by almost all composers. A few of the compositions are listed here.
*''Chalamela'',a popular Adathaalavarnam by
Maharaja Swathi Thirunal 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 ...
*''Nrityati Nrityati '' By
Swati 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 40 ...
in
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
*''Eduṭa Nilacitē'', ''Bhakti Bhikṣamīyave'', ''Maryāda Kādurā'', ''Svararāgasudhārasa'', ''Sundarēśvaruṇi'', ''Manasu Svādhīnamaina'' and ''Eṃduku Peddalavalē'' 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 ...
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 ...
.
*''Dakṣhiṇāmūrtē'', ''Sadāśivam Upāsmahē'', ''Akṣhayaliṃgavibho'' and ''Śrī kamalāmbā'' by
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 ...
in
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
*''Pogadirēlo Ranga'' (6th Navaratna Malike), ''Kande naa kanasinali'', ''Enagu aane'' 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 ...
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 ...
*''Yenu Olle Hariye'' By
Kanaka Dasa
Kanaka Dasa (1509–1609) was a Haridasa saint and philosopher, popularly called Daasashreshta Kanakadasa (ದಾಸಶ್ರೇಷ್ಠ ಕನಕದಾಸ). He was a renowned composer of Carnatic music, poet, reformer and musician. He is kn ...
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 ...
*''Sarōjadala Nētri'' and ''Dēvī Mīnānētri'' by
Syama 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
Sh ...
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 ...
*''Devi Jagath Janani'',''Bhaktha Paraayana'' 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 40 ...
Maharaja in
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
*''Rajeevaksha Baro'' By
Swati 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 40 ...
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 ...
* ''Alarulu Kuriyaga Āḍinadē'' by
Annamacharya
Tallapaka Annamacharya (Telugu : తాళ్ళపాక అన్నమాచార్య) ( IAST: taḷḷapāka annamācārya; 22 May 1408 – 4 April 1503), also popularly known as Annamayya, was a 15th-century Hindu saint and the ea ...
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 ...
*''Samakarardha Sariirini'' by Saint Gnanananda Teertha (Ogirala Veeraraghava Sarma) 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 ...
*Rama Ninnuvina by Thyagaraja
*Swara Raga Sudha by Thyagaraja
Muthuswami Dikshitar also has a list of 22 "Nottu Svara" compositions, based on Western Major Scale notes to his credit.
Related rāgas
This section covers the theoretical and scientific aspect of this rāga.
''Śaṃkarābharaṇaṃ'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 5 other major Melakarta rāgas, namely, ''
Kaḷyāṇi'', ''
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 concer ...
'', ''
Natabhairavi
Naṭabhairavi is a rāgam in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is the 20th ''melakarta'' rāgam in the 72 ''melakarta'' rāgam system. It corresponds to the Natural minor scale of western music system.
Natabhaira ...
'', ''
Kharaharapriya
Kharaharapriya is a rāga in Carnatic music. 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 K ...
'' and ''
Harikambhoji
Harikambhoji (pronounced harikāmbhōji) is a rāgam in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is the 28th ''Melakarta'' rāgam (parent scale) in the 72 ''melakarta'' rāgam system.
One of the first scales employed b ...
''. ''Graha bhedam'' is the step taken in keeping the relative note frequencies same, while shifting the ''shadjam'' to the next note in the rāga. Refer table below for illustration of this concept.
Notes on above table
C as the base for ''Śaṃkarābharaṇaṃ'' is chosen for above illustration only for convenience, as Carnatic music does not enforce ''strict'' frequency/note structure. The ''shadjam'' (S) is fixed by the artist as per the vocal range or the instrument's base frequency. All the other ''svarams'' are relative to this ''shadjam'', falling into a geometric progression-like frequency pattern.
The 7th ''Graha bhedam'' of ''Śaṃkarābharaṇaṃ'' has both ''madhyamams'' (Ma) and no ''panchamam'' (Pa) and hence will not be considered a valid ''melakarta'' (rāga having all 7 swarams and only 1 of each). This is only a classification issue with respect to ''melakarta'' scales, while this structure could be theoretically used well to create good music.
Interesting features
The swaras are regularly spaced in these ragas. Hence these six ragas give very good melody, scope for elaboration, experimentation and exploration of phrases. In practice, ''Natabhairavi'' is not elaborated extensively much. ''Harikambhoji'' is taken up for elaboration, but not as much as the rest of the 4 ragas, namely, ''Śaṃkarābharaṇaṃ'', ''Todi'', ''Kaḷyāṇi'' and ''Kharaharapriya''. One of these 4 rāgas is sung as the main rāga in a concert quite often.
As can be seen in the illustration, these rāgas can be played using just the white keys of a piano/ organ/ keyboard (rāga in simplified fashion).
Film Songs:
Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
* Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia
**Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils
**Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia
* Tamil language, nativ ...
Janya 1:Ragam Pahadi/Pahari
It is an evening raga that combines both playful and pensive aspects. It is characterized by a very charming, folksy
flavor.Peace, power, pathos. Pahadi is a Kashimiri folk melody in its origin, is a simple raga one may think of it as a dhoon.
Ascending: S R2 G3 P D2 P D2 S’
Descending:N3 D2 P G3 M1 G3 R2 S N3 D2 P D2 S
Film Songs:
Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
* Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia
**Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils
**Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia
* Tamil language, nativ ...
Janya 2:Ragam Maand
Mand or Maand is the famous style of singing in Rajasthan. It is well recognized in classical circles and this style is very important in folk-songs of Rajasthan. This is neither accepted as a full-fledged Raga nor is it reckoned among the freely rendered folk songs. It is very near the Thumri or the Ghazal. It is the exclusive contribution of Rajasthani folklore to the classical music of India. It is the Rajasthan's most sophisticated style of folk music and is most exclusive contribution to the classical music of India. The basic format belongs to the folk tune of which is sung during festive occasions like birthday and marriages.
The famous Rajasthani song Kesariya Balam is in the Mand style.
Some famous Mand singers are: Allah Jilai Bai from Bikaner, Mangi Bai Arya from Udaipur and last but not the least
Gavari Bai (also known as
Gavri Devi
Gavri Devi (also known as Gavari Bai) (14 April 1920 – 29 June 1988) was an Indian folk singer from Rajasthan, India, known for her Mand, a singing style of folk music. In addition to Mand singing, she used to sing Thumri, Bhajan and Ghazal ...
) from Jodhpur.
Ascending: S G3 M1 D2 N3 S
Descending:S N3 D2 P M1 G3 R2 S
Carnatic Compositions
* Maand Thillana by Lalgudi Jayaraman
* Paindhaane Hanuman by Arunachala Kavi
* Ramanai Bhajithaal by Papanasam Sivan
* Aadugindraan Kannan by Suddhanandha Bharathi
* Muralidhara Gopala by Periyasamy Thooran popularised by ML Vasanthakumari
* Aarumo Aaval by Kannan Iyengar, another song popularised by MLV
* Neeraja Dhala Nayana by Sambasiva Iyer popularised by Maharajapuram Santhanam
* Vaanathin Meedhu Mayilaada by Ramalinga Adigal popularised by MS Subbulakshmi
Film Songs:
Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
* Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia
**Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils
**Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia
* Tamil language, nativ ...
Janya 3:Ragam Begada
Ascending: S G3 R2 G3 M1 P D2 P S
Descending:S N3 D2 P M1 G3 R2
Carnatic Compositions
* Naadopasana, Nee pada pankaja by Thyagaraja
* Thyagaraja namasthe and vallabha nayakasya by Dikshitar
* Varuvar azhaithu vaadi, an arutpa by Ramalinga Adigal
* Ganarasamudan nin, bhuvaneshwari by Papanasam Sivan
* Vaa Muruga Vaa by Spencer Venugopal
* Nandri kooruvame by T Lakshmana Pillai
* Shankari neeve by Subbaraya Sastri
* Kalayami raghuramam by Swati Thirunal
* Kadaikkan vaithennai by Ramasamy Sivan
* Abimanamennadu galgu, manasuna nera by Patnam Subramaniya Iyer
* Elle ilangiliye, a Thiruppavai
Film Songs:
Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
* Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia
**Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils
**Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia
* Tamil language, nativ ...
Notes
References
{{Janya, state=collapsed
Melakarta ragas