NaadhOpAsana : 72 MeLakarthA Raaga Krithis of Kaimakrya SrI Padma VeerarAghavan on Oppiliappan ( ThiruviNNagarappan) : Part III

[Guest guest]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SrI: Dear Sangeetha RasikAs and NaadhOpAsakAs :

 

Today we will cover MeLa KarthA rAgams and Janya rAgams briefly .

 

Janya Raagams are born (derived) from MeLa Raagams . Each MeLa KarthA has many Janya Raagams .Janya Raagams will possess the svarams of the MeLa rAgams .

 

When a versatile composer handles both MeLa and Its Janya Raagams , good care has to be taken by the composer .

Even more care has to be taken about

SvarasthAnams , when handling adjascent MeLa karthA rAgams .

 

Let us make some general comments on

the Janya Raagams before focusing on the MeLa Raaga krithis composed by Kaimkarya SrI Srimathi Padma

VeerarAghavan .

 

There are 3 Kinds of Janya Raagams:

 

(1)SampoorNam with 7 svarams

 

(2) ShADavam with Six Svarams

 

(3) OuDavam with five svarams

 

In each of the MeLa KarthA Raagam , there are 8 kinds of bhEdhams . They range from 6 for SampoorNa-ShADava

BhEdham to 225 for ouDava-ouDava bhEdhams , With all these combinations ,

the bhEdhams add up to 483 possibilities .

 

(1) When we say , SampoorNa-ShaDava bhEdham , we mean that there are 7 svarams in the ascent( ArOhaNam) and 6 in descent ( avarOhaNam) . An example of such a Janya Raagam is Bhairavam ( MariyAdha gAdhyaa krithoi of Saint ThyagarAja) . Bhairavam is a janyam of

the 17th MeLam , Soorya kAntham .

 

(2)When we refer to the BhEdham of ShADava-sampoorNam , the ArOhaNam has 6 Svarams and the avarOhaNam has 7 svarams .The case in point is the Raagam BhUshAvaLi , the janyam of the 64th MeLa Raagam ,Vaachaspathy .

 

(3) SampoorNa-Oudavam has 7 in ascent and 5 svarams of the MeLa Raagam in descent . One of the 15 variations( bhEdhams ) of such a Janya Raagam is Garudadhvani , the derivative of 29th MELam , Dheera SankharAbaharaNam.

Saint ThyagarAja composed Tattvameriya taramA and Aanandha sAgaramE in Garudadhvani .

 

5) An example of Oudava-SampoorNam is the mid-morning Raagam of SaaVeri with 5 svarams in avarOhaNam and 7 savarams in avarOhaNam . SaavEri is a Janyam of the 15th MeLa KarthA rAgam, MaayA MaaLava GouLai . SrI Mutthuswami Dheekshithar has composed in many Janya Raagams of the 15th MeLam just as Saint ThyagarAja was partial to the Janya Raagams of Karahara Priya , the 22nd MeLam .

 

(6) The beautiful SrIranajani is a Janya Raagam of KaraharapriyA , the 22nd Suddha Madyama MeLam .It is a ShADava-ShADava Janya Raagam with 6 svarams each in ArOhaNam and avarOhaNam .

 

7) ShaDava-Oudavam ( 6 in ascent and 5 in avarohaNam) , The krithi BhrOva BhAramA of Saint ThyagarAjA in Raagam BahudhAri is one such raagam and it is derived from the 28th MeLam ,Hari KaambhOji . Some times the Janya Raagam outshines its MeLa raagam such as KambhOji and Hari KaambhOji . Bhairavi and Nada Bhairavi is another such example .

 

8) Oudava-ShAdavam is the one with 5 svarams in the ascent and 6 in the descent .This kind has 90 bHEdhams

( varieties in combinations). Janya Raagam Bhouli is one such and is another Janya Raagam of the 15th MeLam , MaayA MaaLava GouLam .

 

9) Oudava-Oudavam ( 5 svarams in ascent and 5 in descent).

 

For one MeLa karthA rAgam, there are the possibilites of 483 Janya Raagams , when we look at the subdivisions of the above 9 main variations ranging from SampoorNa shADavam to OuDava- ouDava bhEdhams ; hence for the 72 MeLa Karthas , there would be a total of 34,776 Janya rAgams

(72 times 483 bhEdhams ).

 

All the 34,776 janya Raagams have not been used by the composers.

 

The 72 MeLa Raagams have been handled by the likes of Mahaa VaidhanAtha Iyer , Kavi Kunjara BhArathi , Bala MuraLi KrishNa,

AchArya ratnam S.Rajam and now Srimathi Padma VeerarAghavn has joined the ranks of these famous composers thanks to the anugraha Balam of BhUmi Devi SamEtha Sri Oppiliappan of ThiruviNNagara Dhivya dEsam .

 

Three kinds of Janya Raagams :

 

They break up into (1)upAnga (2) BhAshAnga and (3) vakra rAgams.

 

UpAnga Raagam has always the svarams of the MeLa KarthA rAgams in ArOhaNam and avarOhaNam . All of the 34,776 janyams referred to above are

UpAnga Janya Raagams.

 

BhAshAnga Raagam will include also svarams from another MeLa karthA raagam in its ArOhaNa-avarOhanams .

 

Vakra Raagam has either in ArOhaNa-avarOhaNams or in both have the svarams not in the natural order . When one considers the formation of vakra Raagams from the 34,776 upAnga Raagams , the possibilites are mind boggling .

 

I am indebted to Sangeetha AchArya Sriman B.Rajam for the above insights to share with you.

 

In the next posting , I will take up some of the MeLa raaga and Janya Raaga krithis of Smt. Padma Veeraraghavan on Lord Oppiliappan of Thiruvinnagar eulogized by 4 AzhwArs .

NamO SrI VenkatEsAya ,Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan