SHRIRANJANI - JAYAMANOHARI - ABHOGI

THREE KRAMA VARJYA RAGAMS DERIVED FROM MELAM KHARAHARAPRIYA

P. P. Narayanaswami

Part II

   
 MUSIC RESOURCES
 Sangeetanubhava
 Rasika Forum
 Galaxy of Composers
 Artistes Panorama
 History of Music
 Museum
 Music Handbook
 Composition Bank
 CAC Newsletter
 SERVICES
 Music Clinic
 Event Management
 Career Prospects
 Utility Services
 FEATURES
 Special Features
 Guru Vandanam
 Brain Stimulators
 Tribute
 Kiddies Corner
 Tidbits
 RELATED SUBJECTS
 Dancers' Paradise
 Devotional Music
 Fusion
 Tamil Music
 Country Tunes
 Dimensions
 Harikatha
 ABOUT US

 

JAYAMANOHARI

janaka mELam - 22 - kharaharapriya
ArOhaNam: sa ri ga ma dha sa (omits pa and ni)
AvarOhaNam: sa ni dha ma ga ri sa (omits pa)

jayamanOhari is obtained by dropping the note ni in the ArOhaNam of shrIra~Njani. Thus it is an auDava - SADava (5-6) rAgam derived from kharaharapriya. An upaAN^ga rAgam with jIva svarams : ga, ma, dha; it shines well in madhyamakAla renditions. dIrgha (extended) ni and ri adds beauty to this rAgam.

Among the trinity, only tyAgarAja has composed in jayamanOhari. The k.rti "yaj~nAtulu sukhamanuvAriki" is a favourite of the GNB school. Two compositions of svAti tirunAL in junjhUThi ("kuTilAm asatIm imAm" from ajAmiLopAkhyAnam and "mAdhava mA kalayEha") are incorrectly placed under jayamanOhari by some. This is a rAgam that is not often heard in concerts.
There is a tillAna in jayamanOhari composed by vINa shESaNNa.

Popular Compositions in jayamanOhari

  • yaj~nAtulu sukhamanuvAriki (Adi) - tyAgarAja (A recording of Shri. Ramnad Krishnan )
  • nI bhakti bhAgya sudhA (rUpakam) - tyAgarAja (A recording of Shri. D. K. Jayaraman )
    shrI ramya cittAlaN^kAra (rUpakam) - tyAgarAja
    pADuvAy manamE (Adi) - gOpAlak.rSNa bhArati
    sannidhi varalAmO (Adi) - gOpAlak.rSNa bhArati
    shivalOka nAthanai (rUpakam) - gOpAlak.rSNa bhArati
    tillai veLiyilE (Adi) - gOpAlak.rSNa bhArati
    cintanai magizhciyuDan (tripuTa) - kavi ku~njara bhArati
    varuvanO (rUpakam) - muttusvAmi kavi
    harihara mahAdEva (rUpakam) - muttiAh bhAgavatar
    shrI A~njanEya (Adi) - muttiAh bhAgavatar
    kaNDen kanavilE (Adi) - periasAmi tUran
    tillAna (Adi) - vIna shESaNNa

ABHOGI

janaka mELam - 22 - kharaharapriya
ArOhaNam: sa ri ga ma dha sa (omits both pa and ni)
AvarOhaNam: sa dha ma ga ri sa (omits both pa and ni)

AbhOgi is yet another important janyam of kharaharapriya, obtained by dropping both the pa~ncamam and the niSAdam. It is also very close to shrIra~njani in that it just omits the niSAdam from shrIra~njani. It differs from jayamanOhari by one note in the avarOhaNam.

AbhOgi is an auDava-auDava (5-5) rAgam. Basically, it is a madhyama kAla rAgam with jIva svarams ga, ma and dha.
nyAsa svarams: ri, ma, dha
graha svarams: sa and ri
prayOgams: ga ri ri sa; sa dha dha ma, Ri ri ga ma; ga ri sa dha sa ri ga ma; dha ma dha dha; sa sa dha dha ma; ga ga ri ri sa; ri ga ri sa sa dha sa dha ma ma; ma ga ga ri ri sa; ri dha sa

A sarva kAlika rAgam, whose beauty is brought forth by the jaNTa varishai prayOgams, AbhOgi evokes karuNa/bhakti rasam. A mUrcana kAraka rAgam that generates rAgam valaji by performing graha bhEdam on the note ma.

Undoubtedly, the most popular song in AbhOgi is gOpAlak.rSNa bhArati's "sabhApatikku vERu daivam samAnamAgumA?". There is a historical anecdote related to this song. While gOpAlak.rSNa bhArati was visiting tyAgarAja, the disciples were singing a song in AbhOgi. tyAgarAja asked gOpAlak.rSNa bhArati whether he had composed any song in AbhOgi. bhArati's answer was in the negative. But the next day, he sprang a surprise by composing and singing "sabhApatikku" for tyAgarAja, which he had carved out the previous night. Needless to say, tyAgarAja was immensely pleased.

The popular varNam in AbhOgi, "evari bOdhana" by pattaNam subrahmaNia ayyar is always taught to beginners. tyAgarAja's popular k.rtis in AbhOgi are "manasunilpa" (a GNB favourite) and "nannu brOva". The composition "shrI lakSmI varAham" is the only known dIkSitar k.rti in AbhOgi. shyAma shAstri does not appear to have composed in AbhOgi. A beautiful but rare piece in AbhOgi is mysUr sadAshiva rAo's "nIke puDu" superbly handled by T. M. tyAgarAjan. D. K. jayarAman popularized the pApanAsham shivan composition "nekkurugi unnai". The song "sEvikka vENDumayya" by muttu tANDavar was originally set in AbhOgi, but these days it is rendered in AndOLika. muttusvAmi dIkSitar has introduced the rAga mudra for AbhOgi in his k.rti "shrI lakSmI varAham", very cleverly using the line "maN^galAlayAbhOginutapadam".

AbhOgi has become part of hindustAni music and is usually rendered with a shade of kAnaDa and nomenclature as Abhogi-kAnaDA. I have not come across any tillAna or pallavi exposition in AbhOgi.

Popular Compositions in AbhOgi

varNam

evari bOdhana (Adi) - pattaNam subrahmaNia ayyar (A recording of Shri. Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer )
shrI rAjagopAla (tripuTa) - venkaTaramaNa bhAgavatar

k.rtis

sabhApatikku (rUpakam) - gOpAlak.rSNa bhArati (A recording of Dr. S. Ramanathan )
manasu nilpa (Adi) - tyAgarAja (A recording of Shri. M. D. Ramanathan )
nannu brOva nI kinta (Adi) - tyAgarAja (A recording of Nedunuri Shri. Krishnamurthy )
shrI lakSmI varAham (Adi) - muttusvAmi dIkSitar (Sample from a recording of Madurai Shri. T. N. Seshagopalan )
nekkurugi unnai (Adi) - pApanAsham shivan
sEvikka vENDum (Adi) - muttu tANDavar
nIkE puTu (khaNDa triputa) - mysUr sadAshiva rAo
saMkarSaNa mAM pAlaya (rUpakam) - mysUr vAsudEvAcAriar
yAnai mukhane (Adi) - rAmasvAmi shivan
mOhaM niRainda (Adi) - rAmasvAmi shivan
shAradA dEvi (Adi) - rAmasvAmi shivan
ninnu namminAnu (Ekam) - muttiAh bhAgavatar
jaya nArayaNa (Adi) - muttiAh bhAgavatar
shrI shivE jayavaibhavE (Adi) - muttiAh bhAgavatar
shrI mahAgaNapate (khaNDa cApu) - N. S. rAmacandran (A recording of Thanjavur Shri. S. Kalyanaraman )
sadA smarAmi (jhampa) - ambujam k.rSNa
manasAraga ne (Adi) - G. N. bAlasubramaNian
tAmasamika tAlanu (rUpakam) - G. N. bAlasubramaNian
manasA v.rddha (Adi) - rAmanAthapuram shrInivAasa ayyangAr
dainyApaka (khaNDa cApu) - tuLasIvanam
mAmava vidyAdhirAja (Adi) - tuLasIvanam
mahAdEva (Adi) - M. D. rAmanAthan
sarva vighna haraNa (Adi) - Spencer R. vENugOpAl
tiruvuLLakkaruttu (Adi) - periasAmi tUran
nannu brOva nI kEmi (Adi) - laLitAdAsar

Questions or comments? Send us E-mail.
Copyright: Srishti's Carnatica Private Limited

HOME