Favourites in the Big 6

[rbharath]

there was an youtube video in which Smt Kalpakam Swaminathan elaborates the difference between Bhairavi and mAnji.. i dont seem to find it these days though...

[narayara000]

My top 6 in each of big 6 (in no particular order):

Thodi

Chesinadella by Sudha Raghunathan (Sangathis at Bhama Matalu) - T

http://mio.to/album/Sudha+Raghunathan/G ... Thyagaraja

Koluvamaregada by Gayathri Venkataraghavan (Sangathis at Anupallavi and second half of charanam) - T

http://mio.to/album/Gayathri+Venkatarag ... atic+Vocal

Tamadam En Swami by Vijayalakshmi Subramaniam - P Sivan

http://mio.to/album/Vijayalakshmy+Subra ... arvanandam

Gajavadhana Sammodhitha by TM Krishna (The chittaswaram) - Kumara Ettendra

http://mio.to/album/T.+M.+Krishna/Janar ... %282004%29

Rave Himagiri Swarajathi by Bombay Jayashri - Syama Sastri

http://mio.to/album/Bombay+Jayashri/Tra ... he+Trinity

Thaye Yashoda - OVK


Kambhoji

O Rangasayee (Sangathis at Pallavi) - T

Parthasarathi Un by TM Krishna - Ambujam Krishna

http://mio.to/album/Krishna+TM/Ksetra+Vaishnava

Kadirkama Kandhan by Gayathri Venkataraghavan - P Sivan

https://www.sangeethamshare.org/svasu/U ... traghavan/

Kasi Visveswara (the Madhyama Kalam) - MD

Kana Kan Kodi - P Sivan

Mari Mari Ninne by TM Krishna (Sangathis at Pallavi) - T

http://mio.to/album/Krishna+TM/Mari+Mar ... %282010%29


Kalyani:

Pankaja Lochana by Akkarai Sisters - ST

https://youtu.be/eFOcv-l5GRA?t=1h20m51s

Chidambaram Ena Manam by Gayathri Venkataraghavan - P Sivan

https://www.sangeethamshare.org/kasturi ... araghavan/

Ethavunara by Ranjani Gayathri (Sangathis at Pallavi and Anupallavi) - T

http://mio.to/album/Gayathri%2C+Ranjani ... 2005+Vol+2

Kamalambam Bhajare - MD

Karu Velpulu by Pantula Rama (Sangathis at Pallavi) - T

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7PsnRweK8Y

Venkataramana Pankaja Charana by Nithyasree- P Sivan

http://www.allmusic.com/album/papanasam ... 0001286955


Kharaharapriya:

Saraswathi Annaye by Nithyasree - P Sivan

http://mio.to/album/Nithyasree+Mahadevan/Devi+Krithis

Ganapathiye - P Sivan

Janakipathe by TM Krishna - P Sivan

http://mio.to/album/Krishna+TM/Mari+Mar ... %282010%29

Dayavillaya Dayalo by Maharajapuram Santhanam - P Sivan

http://mio.to/album/Maharajapuram+Santh ... cert+Vol+1

Appan Avadharittha by OST - P Sivan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXpCVhTeyQY

Vidhi Illarku by Sriram Parasuram - Anai Ayya Bros

https://youtu.be/utMkqVQW94U?t=5m11s


Bhairavi

Koluvaiyunnade (the gait at which the ragam is set, as well as sangathis at pallavi) - T

Kamakshi Swarajathi - Syama Sastri

Ammamma Emamma by Priya sisters - Annamacharya

http://mio.to/album/Priya+Sisters/Sri+A ... %281999%29

Balagopala by Abhishek (The charanam) - MD

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFXQyuuFnkI

Attharunam by Sanjay - P Sivan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5A7frAwrpJg

Etthanai Kettalum by TNS - OVK

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzdpKL44OX0


Shankarabharanam

Sadashivam Upasmahe by Gayathri Venkataraghavan - MD

https://charsur.com/album.php?aId=214

Akhilanda Nayaki by Priya Sisters - P Sivan

http://mio.to/album/Priya+Sisters/Papan ... %282008%29

Akshaya Linga Vibho - MD

Buddhi Radhu by Sanjay (the slow gait) - T

http://dunya.compmusic.upf.edu/carnatic ... ddhi-raadu

Chandra Rekha by Gayathri Girish (the chittaswaram) - Muthiah Bhagavathar

https://charsur.com/album.php?aId=249

Alarulu Kuriyaga by Priya Sisters - Annamacharya

http://mio.to/album/Priya+Sisters/Devi+ ... %282000%29

[Sachi_R]

Narayana Narayana!
What a quintessential "Rasikas" thread.
All that remains is for you lovely people to share links to the shareable recordings of the artistes. What a feast it will be.

You know what? If say 10 people each recommend 3 pieces each in the big six and the average length is 8 min., a quick back of the pink slip calculation shows
10.6.3.8/60 = 24 hours. Imagine a streaming set-up with dynamic hyperlinking radio and we can enjoy the best of the best 24 hours akhandam! And the show goes on!...

[shankarank]

Thaye Yashoda - OVK - By Chembai in Shamugananda Hall with Palghat Raghu! - the back to back dual concert the next? day with KJY on his side with TVG on Mridangam.

The organizer in his speech before the concert mentions how Chembai is unperturbed by intricacies of Mridangam playing by artistes like Sri Palghat Raghu.

[vasanthakokilam]

Narayana Narayana!
What a quintessential "Rasikas" thread.

Yes Sachi. A great thread resurrected. There was quite a bit of energy and enthusiasm in this thread then with people sharing their favorites. The thread starter 'Vijay' was also an active participant in general but we have not heard from him in years.

I learned about some great ones like the kalyani master piece kAru vElpulu from this thread then. I tracked down a version by M.S. Sheela and it was in heavy rotation on my playlist for a while. I need to get back to that.

[SrinathK]

Well, well, this thread seems to be a long runner. My favourites then would be

1) Thodi -- There seems to be no end to this raga or what you can do with the gamakas in it -- it's scope seems to be limited only by the imagination of the artiste. For sheer range of phrasing it is in a completely different level, a class entirely of it's own. There are so many ways of playing a particular note in Thodi that you could just make a massive alapana from just trying different gamakas on all the notes.

And then come the others :

2) Bhairavi -- Bhairavi has a way of tugging at the heartstrings right from the opening phrase and is best for putting you in a meditative trance. Thodi for all it's glory isn't the king of sentiment as it is of overwhelming depth. There are a few things to take care of in Bhairavi and one of them is to try not to make it sound like Kharaharapriya once you get into the upper octave. It's merger into Manji still hasn't robbed the shuddha dhaivatam of it's scope and you can use it very liberally without ever sounding like the 20th melakartha of Natabhairavai. The handling of the D2 in bhairavi has some subtleties to it that isn't clear from the swaras, but in the phrases.

3) Kambhoji -- Lot has been said about it's unique flavour and I wholeheartedly agree. However this raga is not so easy to elaborate as it looks. It has a significant overlap with Harikambhoji and sometimes gives the effect of "A tale of two ragas". MMI's swaras in Maa Jaanaki probably can be the book on how to explore all the swaras of Kambhoji without going into Harikambhoji.

If you ask me, Harikambhoji has probably suffered as an underrated raga thanks to evolving in the shadow of Kambhoji. It is Thyagaraja who really showed the world what it can do.

4) Shankarabharanam -- The stats would show that Thyagaraja in fact composed more in Shankarabharanam than in Thodi. It is naturally suited for majesty and energy and in the hands of a good musician can surprise you with it's ability to go beyond the arohanam and avarohanam like none of the others. It excels in complex phrases and long kaarvais. To me personally it is more mentally demanding to elaborate a Shankarabharanam than a Thodi because for some strange reason the same thing that energizes me in the beginning tends to tire me out after a while.

5) Kalyani -- Kalyani's flavour is amazing to me and it's scope for elaboration is right on par with Shankarabharanam and can even give a good fight to Thodi, and it doesn't overwhelm me like Shankarabharanam does. It gives you more landing notes to hover on than Shankarabharanam, but it is more linear and just because you share 7 out of 8 notes with Shankarabharanam doesn't mean that you can try all of Shankarabharanam's phrases on Kalyani. It might however be a bit easier to do brighas in Kalyani.

6) Kharaharapriya -- In my opinion, it is quite underrated. It's scope for elaboration in many ways is even bigger than Bhairavi (my opinion). It lends itself incredibly well as one of the easiest ragas for the left hand on the violin. You can elaborate it liberally across the octaves and use almost all the swaras as landing notes with some skill. Brighas can rain aplenty in this raga and the sweeping jhaarus you can do in KHP are unique.

It's worth mentioning here that Thodi, Natabhairavi, Shankarabharanam, Kalyani, Harikambhoji and Kharaharapriya are all graha bheda variations of the same scale. Bhairavi although being a phrase oriented raga is right now a combination of Natabhairavi and Kharaharapriya without actually sounding like either, while Kambhoji apart from it's unique phrases shares a lot with Harikambhoji.

So if you look at it that way, it is in fact the variations of a single sampoorna scale that rule the universe of ragas in Carnatic music.

PS : There is only one other example of such domination of one scale and it is the scale of Mohanam that transitions into Madhyamavati, Hindolam, Shuddha Saveri and Shuddha Dhanyasi, in that order, and all these ragas are major ones.

Honorary mentions in my book go to Shanmukhapriya (comparable to Bhairavi IMHO with extraordinary potential across the octaves) and Mayamalavagowla (especially MMG for all the focus it gets since the 1st lesson you learned in Carnatic music should be a raga with immense potential for elaboration, even more than Shankarabharanam, but doesn't get it's due).

[srikant1987]

Revised list:

1) shankarAbharaNam - svararAgasudhA, shankarAcAryam, muttukumaranE ... akShayalingavibhO is OK
2) tODi - rAvE himagirikumAri ... gajavadanA
3) kalyANi - kAruvElpulu, EtAvunarA
4) kAmbhOji - evari mATa, koniyADina nApai
5) bhairavi - koluvaiyunnADE ... rakShabeTTarE, bAlagOpAla

6) Kharaharapriya - cakkanirAjamArgamulu ... rAma nIyeDa

[ratanabhinav]

Kalyani - Enduko Ni manasu , Kathaya kathaya madhavam , entati kuluke
Kharaharapriya - Pakkala nilabadi , rama ni samanamevaru , nadachi nadachi
Kamboji - Marakathavallim , Kailasa nathena , Emaiyya rama , Sri Raghuvara
Bhairavi - Enati nomu phalamu , yaro ivar yaro , Mugathai katti , Sri Kamalambikayah
Sankarabharanam - Pogadirelo Ranga , Swararaga , Dakshinamurte , Manasu swadhina ,
Thodi - Dasharathe , Munnu ravana , Brindavana lola , Koluvamaragada

[shankarank]

Bhairavi - the rAgam of Carnatic music - KoluvaiyunnADE - the song of CM! How can bhairavi be mentioned without koluvai - the vARNAM type formation kriti where tyAgaraja epitomises his viSrAnti like no other!

[shankarank]

Kharaharapriya -- In my opinion, it is quite underrated

I think the semi-tonal closeness of ri-ga, dha-ni requires quite a sonorous and pliable voice to make it stick. Remember an SVK review of OST @ KGS where he was not pleased with the vocalist but noted the effective return by MC.

TNS 1993 or so , @ MA - Pakkala Nilapadi with MC, KVP and Harishankar on Kanjira was a memorable one for me.

Had an Ayyappan RTP in Todi as well - vikasita mukam subhaphalapradam hariharasutam - sada bhajEham 1 Akshara ( 32 count ) atItam eduppu- and was released commercially.

[ratanabhinav]

Actualy , my Big 6 is
kanada- vani pondu , srinarada , mamava sada , suki evaro
sahana- mogadochi bilachedu , raghupate rama , giripai ,
dwijavanthi - akilandesvari , chathasri , ramachandruditadu
kapi- undu mada kalitran , parulanna mata , inta sowkhya , janaki ramana
kedaragowla- siggumali , venugana , vanaja nayana , ramuni marava
ritigaula - sadguru swamiki ragaratna malikache , bale balendu , nannu vidachi

[ratanabhinav]

Kalyani - Enduko Ni manasu , Kathaya kathaya madhavam , entati kuluke
Kharaharapriya - Pakkala nilabadi , rama ni samanamevaru , nadachi nadachi
Kamboji - Marakathavallim , Kailasa nathena , Emaiyya rama , Sri Raghuvara
Bhairavi - Enati nomu phalamu , yaro ivar yaro , Mugathai katti , Sri Kamalambikayah
Sankarabharanam - Pogadirelo Ranga , Swararaga , Dakshinamurte , Manasu swadhina ,
Thodi - Dasharathe , Munnu ravana , Brindavana lola , Koluvamaragada

I like kalyani the most , . Thodi is too jarring for me , except in one semmangudi's alapana in emani mataditivo ........it is better there.

[vasanthakokilam]

Kharaharapriya -- In my opinion, it is quite underrated

I think the semi-tonal closeness of ri-ga, dha-ni requires quite a sonorous and pliable voice to make it stick.

Are those two specific semi-tonal closeness aesthetically different compared to other such pairs in other ragas. G3-M1 is one such pair which is probably the best in terms of consonance. Generally curious if the specific way KHP handles those pairs make it a challenge or it is more general...

Remember an SVK review of OST @ KGS where he was not pleased with the vocalist but noted the effective return by MC.

You remember such things!!

I have always felt that 'raga preciseness and fidelity' is always better with violinists ( instrumentalists in general ). Vocal renditions have totally overwhelming other aspects which make most of us prefer vocal concerts but just purely on the melodic aspects, instrumentalists even if they are not in the top tier comes across better than top tier vocalists.

Shankarank, you mention viSrAnti above in reference to Thyagaraja's Koluvai. You have written about that before but not sure if you have elaborated on that earlier. May be you can open a separate thread or write about that here. What does that mean to you from a musical aesthetics perspective?

[shankarank]

Are those two specific semi-tonal closeness aesthetically different compared to other such pairs in other ragas. G3-M1

The semi-tonal closeness of other pairs involve prakRti svaras - like M2-P, G3-M1 etc. M1 is still linked to Adhara Sruti - right? This R2-G2, D2-N2 one is in the well of music the vikRti zone! mAyamAlava gaula (MMG) is still a vibrant rAga at the outset - I am stating that without deliving into scope of elaboration and suc. Now how much of that is due to conditioning because it is taken up for initial training - is a hypothetical question.

There was supposedly a discussion in MA about KHP vs. MMG as the initial trainer - and SS Rao ( father of MM Rao - Munirao) overruling with a statement - that if people cannot sing MMG let them not come to CM.

But KHP is still thought to be the threshhold that a true CM artiste should cross and prove their mettle. But it is the one that turns off a trespasser into a Thyagaraja Utsavam. It is a conundrum. That tyAgaraja made it big is one thing - but we should note that he was able to derive so many derivatives by pulling teeth one by one! They may not be all major rAgas , but he was able to create many a composition with those!!

It is noted as a pancama rAgam in Gita Govindam ( candana carcita) - TNS mentions in his discourse and also alludes to kApi thAT from HM which is also alluded to in the composition ( kApi kapOla). The inter tetra chord relationships are great but it has this neighborhood consonance issue in the well of music. So a person who is able to do a dhATTu sequence ( which brings out inter tetra chord jumps and phrases) and also makes it a second nature to incorporate in Alapanas with flair may have success with this I suppose.

Presence of a major rAga Bhairavi close by ( actually it may not be a close by one - but I am taking it from skeletal perspective - like when we blurt out the notes to define ragas) makes it very suspicious!

Should the thread be titled Big 5 - actually I have heard only Big 5 when did it become 6?? Plot thickens and looks like a deep conspiracy

I have always felt that 'raga preciseness and fidelity' is always better with violinists ( instrumentalists in general ).

Now let me add more to the plot.. you see Nadasvara vidvans seem to win with just Tone , sound and volume and their rhythmic sense and many times they sound off key to a tambura - sa-pa-sa voice people. Please listen to the Bhairavi vaRnam in the Thirumeignanam 5 hour concert ( Thiruveezhimalai thread in V&V forum) posted by varsha - to the G2 sounded in many places. But their music still carries way better than a Sruti aligned singer for a connoisseur conditioned listening to them! So the precision argument is not universal - it seems contextual to String instruments?

May be it is the nAdasvara vidvans that brought out this rAga and SSI picked it up with his asura sAdhakam!

Hey! if we want to critique rAgas lets head straight to KHP. Why bother with about this and that priya that HMB created .

I will comment on your viSranti question shortly!