vanamAli rAdhA ramaNA - rAgA identification

[Lakshman]

Would someone please identify the rAgA of this song? Thanks.

[Ranganayaki]

I was reminded of Chakravakam in the lower notes and to me it sounded like valaji without the ni and with a ri.. a Chakravakam janyam.. It would be Mohanam with a shudda rishabham. I hope I am not mistaken there.. I was clueless as to what ragam that could be, so I looked up Chakravakam janyas and found the name Mukundamalini. Sticking my neck out again, I hope I heard the song correctly. Please let me know if my swaras are wrong.

[Ranganayaki]

What about this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkLAht3c ... detailpage

Please comment on its aptness.

[Lakshman]

Thanks Ranganayaki. I thought it was basically valaji but sounded like a mixed bag as the song progressed.

[vasanthakokilam]

I listened to the one by Vishaka Hari (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vb-FIwiKxIQ) and Shenkottai Hari (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVcZvlwOBbc ).

I also hear it the way Ranganayaki did. S R1 G3 P D2 S S D2 P G3 R1 S

There is a raga called VarNarUpinNi with that structure. I searched and found Nithyashri has sung a song in this raga.
http://www.musicindiaonline.com/album/1 ... Nw3QFoKFV/

Nithyashri's rendering has more Mohana gamakam in the Uttaranga and more Malyamarutham/revagupthi feel in the Purvanga.

[hariharan]

The Namavali " Vanamali Radha Ramana " is ragam Gamanashramaa [53rd Mela raga]

[vasanthakokilam]

Sri Hariharan, which version is in Gamanashramaa? Please post a link if possible. The Vishaka Hari and Shenkottai Hari one do not seem to use M2.

[hariharan]

This Namavali is very popular item in Sampradaya bhajan. Udayaloor Sri. Kalyanaraman sings this Namavali very often,
especially while singing Jayadeva Ashtapadi padathi. A popular composition of Oothukkad " Padmavathy Ramanam" in rag Poorvikalyani set to Misra chap talam is customary to sing prior to start of Ashtapadi padathi bhajan where all the 24 Ashtapadis are sung.
This keerthan is first sung as 'guru' (Jayadevar) dhyanam followed by the namavali "Vanamali Radharamana".
The link for this namavali sung by Udayaloor Sri.KR is given below.

http://www.mediafire.com/?3utvdji0g5xoykh

The Lyrics:
Vanamali RadhAramanA GiridhAri gOvindA
Neela mEgha sundarA NarAyana gOvindA
Bhakta hrudaya mandAra Bhanu koTi Sundara
nanda Nanda gOpa brinda NarAyana gOvindA
narAyana nArayana nArayana gOvindA
nArayana gOvindA

[vasanthakokilam]

Thanks Hariharan. I am not good at detecting the swaras. How did you come to the conclusion it is Gamanashramaa?
Do the swaras map to Gamanashramaa? Thx.

[ganeshkant]

There is also a rAgam by name Rasika Ranjani which sounds similar if not exact.

[Ranganayaki]

I listened carefully to Vishaka Hari's version, on which my answer was based, like Vasanthakokilam's and I just did not hear a m2 or a n3. Because of the absence of M1 and N2, it could certainly be considered a janya of Gamanashrama, but I don't believe it was actually Gamanashrama. I listened to the UK version, but I was tired and it seemed to be musically easy going, not very tight wrt swaras. I could not really tell about that singing.

So I would agree that it would be Varnarupini, or my answer, Mukundamalini, both having the same swaras, or being two names for the same raga.