Swaras and Sahityam in Ragas

Miscellaneous topics on Carnatic music
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Carnatic.Beginner
Posts: 1
Joined: 23 May 2017, 06:50

Swaras and Sahityam in Ragas

Post by Carnatic.Beginner »

Hello Everyone,
I am new to this Forum. So not sure if this question has been asked in the past.
I am trying to learn the basics of ragas and came across Pillari Geetams after going through Alankaras.
At this moment it is so hard for me to understand the link between Swaraas and Sahityam.

For example I came across Mohana geetam -- varaveeNa mrudupaNi...
I am following this video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=De0NWdPcWDc

It has the following swaras and Sahityam...

You hold the divine ("vara") veena in your soft ("mrudu") hands ("paani").
G G | P , P , | D P || S , S , ||
Va ra | vee - na - | Mru du || Pa - ni - ||
You are the queen ("raani") of the omniscient. Your eyes ("lochana") are like the lotus petals
("vanaruha").
R S | D D P , | D P || G G R , ||
Va na | ru ha Lo - | cha na || Raa - ni - ||

My question is how do we go about linking swara and sahityam
for GG P P ( it is) -- va ra vee naa

what difference it makes if I use DP S S (for)-- va ra vee naa ( instead of mRudu paa nee), I understand may be the sahityam will be sung in a different manner. IDK but how exactly?

This might really be a dumb question I don't know... Do i actually need read/understand something before going into geetams...
can someone give me insight or provide a link/doc./book which can better explain this?

Thanks in Advance.

asterix
Posts: 7
Joined: 23 Jul 2010, 14:14

Re: Swaras and Sahityam in Ragas

Post by asterix »

It is the relative spacing between the notes which makes the composed tune.
So instead of GG PP it can start with DD R1 R1 or something.
Which in effect will become GG PP in a higher shruthi.

sureshvv
Posts: 5523
Joined: 05 Jul 2007, 18:17

Re: Swaras and Sahityam in Ragas

Post by sureshvv »

Swaras are the notes and form the building blocks of the tune. Sahithyam comprises the words that are in the song. They happen together when the song is rendered.

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