RMIM Archive Article "409".


From the RMIM Article Archive maintained by Satish Subramanian

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# RMIM/C Archives..
# Subject: Raga Devaranjani
#	(Series on Hindustani ragas inspired by Carnatic ragas)
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# Posted by: Rajan Parrikar (parrikar@spot.colorado.edu)
# Author: Rajan Parrikar 
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Namashkar. In this week's installment of Carnatic-inspired rAgas we present Raga Devaranjani, also known as Devaranji. It is derived from the 15th melakarta, Mayamalavagaula, which corresponds to the Bhairav thATa in the Hindustani paramparA: S r G M(shuddha) P d N. A brief profile of the Hindustanised version follows. We invite comments from Carnatic folks on their version and/or recommendations of representative recordings. Raga Devaranjani has the peculiarity that both the rishab and gandhAr swaras are varjya. It also comes in two primary flavours, one with the shuddha nishAd only and the other that employs both. It is the latter type that will be our concern here. The aroha/avaroha set may be stated as follows: S M, M P d (N)S"::S" (n)d P, d n d P, P M S uuu--->meenD A sample chalan will illuminate the features of this exquisite, meenD and shruti-replete rAga: S, (n')d' (n')d' S....., S M, M P, (n)d (n)d S"....., S" (N)d, P d n d P, M (M)S uuuu--->meenD The madhyam and pancham are nyAsa swaras; the interplay between the madhyam and shadaj lends the rAga a beauty all its own; both the nishAds help supply the kaN/sparsh to the shadaj and dhaivat as indicated; the role of komal nishAd is occasionally strengthened in bandish for ranjakatva. Central to the rAga is the unusual meenD from the madhyam to the shadaj. Such type of meenD is found in some others rAgas too (eg. Khambavati of the Gwalior school - see D.V. Paluskar's recording) but it is underscored here due to the absence of the rishab and gandhAr. It is not possible in to accurately convey the meenD dynamics via the written word. For a beautiful demonstration of an analogous (interval and effect-wise, albeit a little quick) meenD we refer you to Lata's very well-known film number (this reference was brought to my attention by my friend Nachiketa Sharma): O basanti pavan pAgal...Notice the handling of the second "nA jA." The subtleties of India's musical aesthetics, its shruti and swara-related appurtenances, came so easily to this supremely endowed Mangeshkar girl. There is much of profit for even a student of classical music in her output during the prime years - the 1950s - under master tunesmiths such as Madan Mohan, Roshan, Anil Biswas, Naushad, S.D. Burman and errr- why not say it - Shankar-Jaikishan. The following composition quickly becomes addictive once you get its flow. Patwardhan lists this bandish, although the version below might differ slightly over some details. The words of the shabad by Nanak are beautiful and bespeak his desire to cast off all wordly attachments. For a series of discussions on Guru Granth-derived bandishes, see the December 1997 archives of the newsgroup. Footnote: a swara in square brackets here represents a khaTkA. It is a very rapid one-shot intonation around a swara. In the instance below, [n] effectively is the very rapidly intoned cluster S"ndn. In the first aproximation, one may set [n] = n. Warm regards, r ***** Raga: Devaranjani Tala: Teental Shabad: Guru Nanak bhookhyo mana mAyA urjhAyo jo-jo karma kiyo lAlach lagi tihi-tihi Ap bandhAyo samajh nA paDi vishaya rasa rAchyo yash Hari ko bisrAyo Glossary: urjhAyo = preoccupied, entangled jo-jo = jaise-jaise lAlach = greed tihi-tihi = vaise-vaise vishaya = wordly things rAchyo = to be attached Key: (1) All shuddha notes in caps (M=shuddha madhyam, m=tivra madhyam) (2) The " and ' following a note denotes its tAr-saptak and mandra- saptak affiliation, respectively. (3) The grace note is enclosed in parenthesis of the type () and it operates on the note immediately following it. Asthaie: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Pd [n] (n)d - P P d M bhoo.......khyo... ma....na mA..... M - MP dP M - (M)S -(n')d' - (n')d' - S - S S yA.... u....ra...jhA.......yo.... jo.... jo..... kar.........ma ki <--meenD--> <--smooth--> <------smooth------> M - (S)M - M M P P (n)d d S" S" N d d n yo.... lA........la...cha la...gi ti...hi ti....hi A...........pa ban <--------smooth----------> <---smooth---> d P d (P)M P M M (M)S dhA.................yo.............. <------smooth-------> Antara: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 M M M M P (n)d - (n)d sa...ma....jha nA pa....Di..... vi <------meenD------> d d S" S" S" - S" - S" S" M" M" M" S" S" S" sha..ya ra...sa rA........chyo.. ya...sha ha....ri ko..... bi....sa P d (P)M M P M M (M)S rA.............yo................... <---------smooth--------> *****
From the RMIM Article Archive maintained by Satish Subramanian