Chakravakam

Rāga related discussions
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bdeepu
Posts: 17
Joined: 19 Apr 2006, 12:22

Post by bdeepu »

Some ragas like Chakravakam are rarely sung in concerts of today despite their amazing ability for "ranajanam," elevation, soulfulness, and other nice qualities. Which is a pity.

A karuna rasa pradhana ragam, Chakravakam is one of my favs. Can we have a discussion on this?

Thanks and regards

hariharan
Posts: 677
Joined: 14 Apr 2008, 21:57

Post by hariharan »

This is the 16th Mela raga which is said to be a "sarva kalika "mela with scope for sancharas in all the 3 sthayis. The equivalent raga in the Hindusthani music is called rag 'Ahirbhairav'. A very popular raga used for singing songs, evoking karuna rasa as well as pathos. Some of the popular kritis in this raga are;

Sugunamule jeppukOnti & Etula brotuvo teliya of Sri. Thyagaraja
Gajananayutam ganeswaram of Sri. Dikshitar
Para devataye of Sri. Papanasam Sivan
Oru pozhudu mirucharana nEsa & Apakara Nindaipattu...Thirupukazh
Pibhare Ramarasam rasane - Sri. Sadasiva Brahmendral (this song is sung in the rag Ahirbhairav a Hindusthani raga)

It is heard that, Sri. Maha Vaidhyanatha Iyer was an expert to sing this raga . He got the title "maha" after singing this raga, when he was just 12 years old boy.

Rag Vegavahini is the name given for this raga by Sri. Dikshitar and in the arohana alone it has the vakra swara (srgmpdnds). It is also believed that rag Vegavahini existed earlier than rag Chakravakom. The song "Kailasanadam" is composed in the raga Vegavahini by Sri. Dikshitar.

Ragam Chakravakom is also a murchana mela. When the notes MA and Ni are taken as Shadjam for sruti bedam, you get the ragas Sarasangi and Dharmavathi, respectively. This raga evokes lot of emotions out of Bhakti and may be the reason lot of Bhajan songs are sung in this raga. The popular Abhang "Teertha Vittala Kshetra Vittala" is an example.

This raga has been often used widely in the Film music, especially in olden days by our well known music directors. The song "Ezhu malai Andavane" in the film 'Kalyanam panni par' and the song "Ullattil nalla ullam urangadenpadu" in the film 'Karnan' and the song "Daivattin pereduttu" in the film 'Pattum Bharatamum' are examples for popularity of this rag in films. I give below a link where you can listen to a detailed demonstration of this raga by Madurai Sri. G.S.Mani Iyer.

I had given what little I know about this rag and wish experts in our forum can post more details about this raga. I appreciate bdeepu for starting this thread and deserves well for all our patronages.

1. Download Link: Click here to download file
http://rapidshare.com/files/171397224/C ... m.mp3.html

Radhe krishna
Hariharan

VK RAMAN
Posts: 5009
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 00:29

Post by VK RAMAN »

I like chakaravakam and here is one my renditions:
http://www.acidplanet.com/artist.asp?PID=832990&t=8053

rajesh_rs
Posts: 184
Joined: 01 Dec 2007, 11:18

Post by rajesh_rs »

bdeepu, Chakravakam is one of my favourites too. I also liked Malayamarutham which has a similar flavour. Perhaps my favourite song in Chakravakam is Gajananayutham Ganeshwaram. A superb rendition of this exists on youtube by the diminutive and extremely talented Aishu Venkataraman. Also liked some of the songs in the Kannada movie Malayamarutha, which has a couple of songs set in Malayamarutham/Chakravakam.

I attempted a Chakravakam on guitar and posted it on my blog here:

http://philramble.wordpress.com/2008/10 ... amarutham/

Please have a look/listen. Your comments are welcome.

bdeepu
Posts: 17
Joined: 19 Apr 2006, 12:22

Post by bdeepu »

Hariharanji,

Thanks! I knew very sketchy info about Chakravakam but your level of detail is very much appreciated.

Going by the # of responses, it looks like this doesn' t interest other expert rasikas in this forum. :-)

And it's true, the Kannada movie Malayamarutha has two great numbers in MM raga: "Malayamarutha gaana" (title track) and "Sharade Daye toride." The first is a duet by KJY and S Janaki and the 2nd song is sung by both SPB and KJY. You must listen to both renditions!

Thanks again.

bdeepu
Posts: 17
Joined: 19 Apr 2006, 12:22

Post by bdeepu »

Oh! and listen to this. Unsure if it's "pure" chakravakam: http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=jFSPsgHgx9o

coolkarni
Posts: 1729
Joined: 22 Nov 2007, 06:42

Post by coolkarni »

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Last edited by coolkarni on 24 Nov 2009, 09:52, edited 1 time in total.

rajeshnat
Posts: 9906
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 08:04

Post by rajeshnat »

coolkarni wrote:chakravakam was the raga thru which i got introduced to my good friend raju asokan in atlanta.
a tamil song from the movie karnan and a number in ahir bhairav by manna dey was our first exchange,driven by a casual [causal,too] exchange at forumhub.com
coolji
If you are thinking about the song ullathiL nalla ullam urangAdhu in the movie karnan, then that song is in Ahirbhairav (not chakravAkham). BTW I heard as a grapevine that the songs of karnan was more tuned by the eminent vidwan your friend madurai GS Mani ,and not MS VishwanAthan-TK Ramamurthy.

coolkarni
Posts: 1729
Joined: 22 Nov 2007, 06:42

Post by coolkarni »

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Last edited by coolkarni on 24 Nov 2009, 09:53, edited 1 time in total.

appu
Posts: 443
Joined: 20 May 2007, 09:46

Post by appu »

In the CD Parivaar by TN Krishnan and TN Rajam RTP in Chakravakam/Ahir Bhairav. Avery nice rendering

appu
Posts: 443
Joined: 20 May 2007, 09:46

Post by appu »

rajesh_rs. Can you give me the link for Aishu Venkataraman's Gajananayutham on You tube.

hariharan
Posts: 677
Joined: 14 Apr 2008, 21:57

Post by hariharan »

bdeepu wrote:Oh! and listen to this. Unsure if it's "pure" chakravakam: http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=jFSPsgHgx9o
This song is in rag Chakravakam only. But when one carefully listen to it, a close resemblance is felt with rag 'Sourashtram', may be due to the common notes that appear in both these ragas. This same similarity is also felt when one listens to the song 'Gajananayudham Ganeswaram' . May be the reason why our rasika bdeepu feels unsure if it is pure Chakravakam. According to me, pure chakravakam has the shades and color of rag Sourashtram.

The rag sourashtram is known to be the janya of 17th mela 'suryakantham' but in practice, kaishiki nishadam swara is commonly used for singing this raga, whereas the mela swara nishadam is kakali nishadam. A classic example for this phinominal is singing of the 1st Ashtapadi 'pralayapayodi jale' in rag Sourashtram in the Bhajan sampradayam. The kaishiki nishadam is being used for sourashtram here. Hence my views finger towards the
familarities of rag Chakaravakam with Sourashtram at many palces.

The Hindusthani rag Ahirbhairav's vadi swara is Ma and samavadi is Sa. The notes Ri and Ni are the jeeva swaras for Chakravakam. The note Pa is weaker in Ahir bhairav whereas Pa is the nyasa swara for Chakravakam. May be, for these reasons Ahirbhairav rag sounds not exactly like Chakaravakam, eventhough they have the same arohana and avarohana pattern swaras.

I look forward experts' views on my above said remarks.
Radhekrishna
Hariharan
Last edited by hariharan on 15 Dec 2008, 11:55, edited 1 time in total.

bdeepu
Posts: 17
Joined: 19 Apr 2006, 12:22

Post by bdeepu »

Thanks Hariharanji for clearing my doubt!

On that note, I agree that Chakravakam sounds a lot like Saurashtram.

Rajan Parikkar lists "pralayapayodhi jale" under Ahir Bhairav here: http://www.sawf.org/newedit/edit05292000/musicarts.asp

ramakriya
Posts: 1876
Joined: 04 Feb 2010, 02:05

Post by ramakriya »

hariharan wrote:
bdeepu wrote:Oh! and listen to this. Unsure if it's "pure" chakravakam: http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=jFSPsgHgx9o
This song is in rag Chakravakam only. But when one carefully listen to it, a close resemblance is felt with rag 'Sourashtram',

This song is more Ahir bhairav-ish, and less sourAshTra- ish :) IMO.

-Ramakriya

MusicBee
Posts: 2
Joined: 09 Jan 2009, 01:58

Post by MusicBee »

Can anyone provide me swarms for Devaadi deva Mysore Vasudevachar's composition?
I am unable to get it online...

KTBR
Posts: 15
Joined: 03 Sep 2017, 13:22

Re: Chakravakam

Post by KTBR »

Rendition of #6 in this concert (announced as cakravAkam) sounds more Ahirbhairav,

https://www.sangeethamshare.org/tvg/UPL ... rahmanyan/

DD Direct Plus (arangisai) :: 16-JUN-2017,Fri 21:30

Duration :: 01:14:26 Hours

Sanjay Subrahmanyan (Vocal); Kumbakonam M R Gopinath (Violin); Thanjavur R Ramadas (Mrudangam); Anirudh Athreya V (Kanjira)

01 cAla ninnE (varNam) - kEdAram (29) - khaNDa aTa - tiger varadhAcAri - 00:07:42
02 janakajA samEta - asAvEri (08) - rUpakam - tyAgarAjar - 00:05:17
03 SRngAra SaktyAyudha dhara - (52) ramAmanOhari - miSra jhampai - muttusvAmi dIkshitar - 00:12:47
04 avan seyal anRi - hamIrkalyANi (65) - Adi - harikEsanallUr muttaiyyA bhAgavatar - 00:04:56
05 paccai mA malai (pAsuram) - bhairavi (20) - Adi - toNDaraDippoDi AzhvAr - 00:38:01
06 nittam unai - Ahirbhairav (16) - rUpakam - mahAkavi subramaNiya bhArati - 00:05:41

SrinathK
Posts: 2477
Joined: 13 Jan 2013, 16:10

Re: Chakravakam

Post by SrinathK »

For this thread, I won't be focusing on vEgavAhini as it is the asampUrna mElakarta with some non-linear handling, but I will stick to the sampUrna rAgA chakravAkam here.

Thyagaraja's composition sugunamulE cheppukoNTi in this raga :- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTAdckCQj3I - MS Subbulakshmi

etula brOtuvO is also another Thyagaraja number and the Alathoor brothers' recording is well known, so here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NFwcExG9f0

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