Ghana ragas and your favorite rendition

rasam · Post by **rasam** » 17 Oct 2006, 06:17

A lot of us on this website must have listened to countless renditions of the ghana ragas:

Thodi, Bhairavi, Kambhoji, Shankarabaranam, Kalyani and Kharaharapriya.

Just an opinion poll: What rendition (at a live concert) stands out the most in your mind i.e. which artist/concert comes to your mind when you mention any of these 5 ragas?

rbharath · Post by **rbharath** » 17 Oct 2006, 11:25

these are the renditions which immediately strike me. some of them from live concerts and some from recordings. and i would have my own biases as well.

tODi -
TKG sang a pallavi sometime back at raga sudha.
TNR's jEsinadella
TRS' jEsinadella

bhairavi -
R K Shriram Kumar singing 'sariyevvarammA' at a recent chamber concert
MSS pallavi 'amba madura meenakshi...'
Sangeetha Sivakumar's 'tanayuni brOva' at PSS last december

shankarAbaraNam -
SSI singing dakshiNAmurtE
Sanjay's pallavi 'siva saravaNa bhava kumarA' two years back at IMSc.

kAmbhOji -
TNS singing 'ivanArO' padam

kalyANi -
Dr M A Bhagirathi's 'rAmA nI vAdukontuvO' at samajam last year

kharaharapriyA -
Rama Ravi singing 'vidhi illArku' last year at MA

prashant · Post by **prashant** » 17 Oct 2006, 14:09

Echoing bharath's statement on personal biases and what I can recollect offhand:

tODi:

GNB's RTP 'gAna lOla'
Smt Vedavalli's dAkshAyaNi
SSI's rAvE himagirikumAri
Alathur Brothers's dAsukOvalEnA
MDR's brindAvana lOla
TNS's kArtikEya kAngEya
DKP's nannu brOCuTaku

bhairavi:

MDR's kAmAkshi anudinamu
Ramnad Krishnan's RTP 'mA madura mInAkshi'
Smt MSS's e nATi nOmu
KVN's bAlagOpAla

sankarAbharaNam

My Guru Sri Chandrasekharan's bAgumIra
SSI's dakshiNAmUrtE
TRS's akshaya linga vibhO
Vijay Siva's tUkiya tiruvaDi
Nedunuri's alarulu guriyaga
KVN's pogaDiralO rangA

kAmbhOji

KVN/VVS/Raghu Mumbai - sri subrahmaNyAya namastE - the gold standard
Smt DKP's koniyADina
Nedunuri's RTP 'gOpikA manOharam gOvardhana giridharam'
Vijay Siva's tiruvaDi sharaNam
Vijay Siva's srI vAlmIkalingam
TMK's O rangaSAyi with Nagai / Trichy Sankaran at KGS in 2004

Kalyani:

TK Rangachari's nijadAsa varadA
SSI's birAnabrOva and pankajalOCana
Nedunuri's enduku nI manasu
KVN's nIduCaraNa

Kharaharapriya:

Smt Vedavalli's saumitri bhAgyamE
SSI's samAnam evaru
TRS's kOri sEvimparArE
KVN's srinivAsa tava CaraNau and pakkala nilabaDi
Malladi Brothers recent RTP at Shanmukhananda 'murugA shaNmukhA mAl marugA vA sadguruguhanE'

chalanata · Post by **chalanata** » 19 Oct 2006, 22:58

bhairavi and kamboji by madurai mani iyer and the rest by maharajapuram santhanam or SSI

ksrimech · Post by **ksrimech** » 19 Oct 2006, 23:24

Thodi - TNR's jEsinadella, MSS's kArtikEya gAngEya, SSI's gajavadana, GNB's tAmadamEn

Bhairavi - MMI's kamalAmbikAyah & koluvaiyunnADE, MDR's amba kAmakshi swarajathi, Sanjay's bAlagOpala

Kambhoji - ARI's SRI subrahmaNyAya, MMI's and TVS's kANakaNkODi vENDum, MSS's and SSI's O rangasAyI

Kalyani - RTPs by GNB and MLV, KVN's pAhimam sri, LGJ's Isa pAhimAm, MMI's kamalAmbAm bajarE

Karaharapriya - MSS's pakkAla nilabaDi, Sanjay's sendilAndavan, DKJ's jAnakipatE, SSI's rAma ni samanam

Vocalist · Post by **Vocalist** » 20 Oct 2006, 13:53

With the exception of bhairavi, I have rarely found artists NOT doing justice to the Ghana rAgAs. So here's my list in

bhairavi

Nithyashree's Baalagopaala (Music Academy 99 commercial Recording), RTP (commercial)and Rama Kodhandha Rama (commercial and non commercial)
DKP's Raksha Bettare, Aatharunam, RTP and Yaaro Ivar Yaaro (commercial)
MLV's Sarvaantharyaami, RTP and Keesu Keesu (commercial)
MSS's Enaati nomu Phalamo, RTP and Yaaro Ivar yaaro (Commercial and Non-commercial)
TNS' Thanayuni Brova (Music Academy - forgot which year)
DKJ's and Sudha Ragunathan's Chinthayamaam (Mylapore Fine Arts 2000 commercial recording)
Bombay Jayashree's Aryam Abhayam (non-commercial?)
Sanjay's Thaye Yezhaippaal (non-commercial?)

Music · Post by **Music** » 20 Oct 2006, 19:56

Great ragas selected for discussion in this thread. However, I have always seen only Nata, Gowla, Arabhi, Varali & Sri being termed as Ghana ragas. Not sure if any of the ragas in the above messages (Todi, Bhairavi, Kalyani, Kharaharapriya, Kambhoji, Shankarabharanam)can be called 'Ghana ragas'.

venkatpv · Post by **venkatpv** » 20 Oct 2006, 21:07

Thodi
TNS - Dasharathi, Neene Doddavano
MMI - Thaye Yashoda (LGJ takes it to the next level after MMI sets it up beautifully)
DKJ - Shri Subramanyo
TRS - RTP (Nayakam Vinayakam Gananayakam Sada Bhajami - the alapana is excellent)

Kalyani
TRS - Enduku nee manasu
TNS - Kamalambam Bhajare

Shankarabharanam
TNS (with LGJ) - Chintayare
SSI - Dakshinamurthe

Kharaharapriya
SSI - Rama nee Samanamevaru
TNS - Pakkala
TRS - Kori Sevimpa
Sanjay - Pakkala

Bhairavi
SSI - Amba Kamakshi
TNS - Balagopala
MDR - Balagopala

Kambhoji
KVN - Shri Subramanyaya
SSI - Maa Janaki
MDR - O Rangasayee with alapana and thanam
TRS - Thiruvadi Charanam, Maa Janaki

rajumds · Post by **rajumds** » 20 Oct 2006, 21:28

surprising . chakkani raja (karaharpriya) doesn't seem to find any takers. Definitely my favourite - Karakurichi & Santhanam

venkatpv · Post by **venkatpv** » 20 Oct 2006, 22:02

prashant,
can you u/l the TRS akshaya linga vibho? TIA

Sreemathy · Post by **Sreemathy** » 20 Oct 2006, 22:16

rajumds - ironically a lot of the selections in the thread seem to reflect the pallavi of the krithi "chakkani raja mArgamu".
venkatpv - hard to believe that Sri.TRS doesn't know any krithis in Sankarabaranam and Bhairavi

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 21 Oct 2006, 11:28

<<hard to believe that Sri.TRS doesn't know any krithis in Sankarabaranam and Bhairavi>>

Now that is some sort of a red rag , waved in front of venkatpv !!!
Venakt , you better respondsince I dont have internet for uploads now!

prashant · Post by **prashant** » 21 Oct 2006, 13:19

Venkat: it's on tape. I'll u/l later this weekend for sure

venkatpv · Post by **venkatpv** » 21 Oct 2006, 18:43

surprisingly, i have heard TRS' shankarabharanam only once... in an RTP... which had a great four-part alapana, but its not top on my list...

as for bhairavi, i have heard his odi barayya (courtesy coolkarni ofcourse!!) and an RTP... cant think of anything else really... so thats why TRS didnt figure in my list of great s'bharanam and bhairavi!!

coolkarniji,
i wont mind if u decide to u/l some good TRS tracks in these ragas!!

thanks prashant

and since u r converting the tape to mp3, why not u/l some more tracks

meena · Post by **meena** » 22 Oct 2006, 05:47

venkat

sree TRS has rendered manasu swadheena - shankarabharanam, sorry i do not have the clip

(BTW go easy on those smileys)

rbharath · Post by **rbharath** » 26 Oct 2006, 15:12

Music wrote:Great ragas selected for discussion in this thread. However, I have always seen only Nata, Gowla, Arabhi, Varali & Sri being termed as Ghana ragas. Not sure if any of the ragas in the above messages (Todi, Bhairavi, Kalyani, Kharaharapriya, Kambhoji, Shankarabharanam)can be called 'Ghana ragas'.

Well, its all in the nomenclature. The 5 ragams you have listed are called 'Ghana Panchaka Ragams' which i think are apt for ghanam singing.

Ghana ragams in this context are heavy ragams. 'ghanam' stands for heavy in some indian languages.

humdinger · Post by **humdinger** » 26 Oct 2006, 15:50

i have heard ghannam is nothing but tanam singing...if that is the case, i wonder why i never heard an RTP in any of these ghana raga panchaka...may be they are not considered 'ghanam' in that sense...

srkris · Post by **srkris** » 26 Oct 2006, 21:46

Ghanam is the same as tanam? I dont think so, although I'm not too sure. I think rbharath is right... ghana panchaka raga is not about ghanam as a mode of improvisation.. rather it is supposed to mean "heavy" ragas.

rbharath · Post by **rbharath** » 27 Oct 2006, 11:39

i am not an expert in this issue, far from it. but, from what i gather from various instances and explanations given by senior vidwans and experts, that i have heard, Ghanam is a type of tAnam singing and not exactly tAnam singing by itself.

humdinger · Post by **humdinger** » 27 Oct 2006, 11:55

thanks rbharath and srkris...
and my question again....did any one hear an RTP in any of the ghana raga panchakas?

srkris · Post by **srkris** » 27 Oct 2006, 13:33

I dont exactly remember hearing an RTP, but Semmangudi begins one of his concerts with a kriti in nAttai with rAga and tAna (the only time I have heard a tAnam in nAtta)

Radhakrishnan · Post by **Radhakrishnan** » 27 Oct 2006, 15:00

Vairamangalam singing tAnam for the 5 rAgAs, from naTa to sri, in this bhairavi RTP

http://rapidshare.com/files/859739/vairam_rtp.mp3.html

rbharath · Post by **rbharath** » 27 Oct 2006, 15:55

Pallavis in varALi are umpteen. I have heard quite a few of them.

I have heard a pallavi in srI rAgams. Sanjay sang a pallavi in Arabhi at Parthasarathy Sabha some years back.

a rAgamAlika tAnam with all these 5 rAgams is not unknown at all. Quiet a few artists take up this set of 5 to weave a rAgamAlikA tAnam.

Vocalist · Post by **Vocalist** » 27 Oct 2006, 19:04

Quite a few artists take all 5 rAgAs, nAtA to shrI as rAgamAlikA swarams.

srinidhi · Post by **srinidhi** » 27 Oct 2006, 19:12

I have heard Sri Mysore Doraiswamy Iyengar play an RTP in all the five ragas. Raga alapani was in nattai follwed by ragamalika tanam and finally a pallavi in Sri raga with ragamalika swarams in reverse order. Sruti- the channel on worldspace radio airs this quite often.

venkatpv · Post by **venkatpv** » 27 Oct 2006, 19:28

Sowmya's definition from the carnatica lecdem: "madhyamakala thanam is called ghanam"

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 27 Oct 2006, 19:34

I might be putting my foot in here, but I think ghanam, a variety of tAnam is a noun, while ghana is an adjective for the type of rAga it describes (may be heavy, but not too sure), and are possibly not related - or has this already been stated?
Ravi

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 27 Oct 2006, 20:30

I better watch my grammar, jayaram would say

but your educated guess agrees with my thinking...

ramakriya · Post by **ramakriya** » 27 Oct 2006, 21:25

ghana in samskrita means solid, dense etc

remember Krishna is called "ghana"shyAma sundara

I knew only about ghanarAga panchakas (1st and 2nd) where in tAna makes them sparkle.Is there a practice of calling rAgas like shankarAbharaNa, bhairavi, tODi also as ghanarAgas?

Loudly thinking, are ghana rAgas those where 'ghanam' singing was in vougue?

-Ramakriya

Ashwin · Post by **Ashwin** » 28 Oct 2006, 01:11

I thought tAnam was always supposed to be in madhyamakAlam - in fact, I think tAnam was actually known only as 'madhyamakAlam' at one point.

Ashwin

srkris · Post by **srkris** » 28 Oct 2006, 02:01

Yeah Tanam is always madhyamakala, AFAIK.

There's already a thread on this same topic - ghanam (as a mode of raga improvisation)

But let me say something here again

Vidwan Calcutta K.S.Krishnamurthy says about Chembai "Time and again, he included a special featrure in his alapana, namely 'ghanam' or nasal articulation of the humpita gamaka, with the mouth closed".

This is the only clearcut reference to ghanam I have heard from any musician so far.

CML had asked for this demonstration (raga singing using pure anuswaram) just a couple of weeks back and I uploaded this - http://www.rogepost.com/dn/fpqh

If you listen to it completely, its not pure anuswaram - it's like "ghmmmm..." kind of thing - like uttering gha with mouth closed. Maybe that's why its called "gha"nam?

I have more examples of this, all by Chembai.

ninjathegreat · Post by **ninjathegreat** » 28 Oct 2006, 14:00

tODi

SSI, 1968 MA, RTP ("srI rAma jaya rAma jaya jaya rAmA") - beautiful, beautiful!!
MMI - thAyE yasOdA (any one of his renderings!!!)
Voleti - RTP (no idea about details)
GNB - thAmadamEn swAmi

bhairavi

SSI - RTP ("dasaratha bAlA rAmachandrayyA dayAnidhE")
SSI - amba kAmAkshi (swarajathi)
MDR & KVN - bAlagOpAlA

later!

Ninja

humdinger · Post by **humdinger** » 30 Oct 2006, 11:15

thanks every one for inputs...
there is a charsur release of pancharatna kritis by sanjay & unni. the cover says "these ragas are called ghana ragas because they are most suited for tanam playing on veena"....

jayaram · Post by **jayaram** » 31 Oct 2006, 20:23

arasi wrote:I better watch my grammar, jayaram would say but your educated guess agrees with my thinking...

:)
Grammar 101 - it's not that difficult!
Both ghana and ghanam can be noun or adjective depending on the usage & language.
Ghana/ghanam = Weight >> Noun
Ghana/ghanam = Heavy >> Adjective

See - it's that easy!

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 01 Nov 2006, 02:47

Hey! With all the hikes in college courses, I get tuition-free education as well. Long live the Forum!

Ramesh Abhiraman · Post by **Ramesh Abhiraman** » 01 Nov 2009, 01:11

Thodi - TNseshagopalan, and vintage TNrajaratnam Pillai Nagaswaram and MLV.
Shankarabharanam and Kambhoji - DKP

Ramesh Abhiraman · Post by **Ramesh Abhiraman** » 01 Nov 2009, 01:14

Bhairavi. syama Sastri's swarajati Kamakshi, and semmangudi's version

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 01 Nov 2009, 01:51

Ramesh has resurrected an old thread. Very good. Those are some great suggestions for performances in these major ragas. We can reevaluate the choices made three years back. Also we can see if any clarity has emerged on what 'ghana/ghanam' means in various contexts ( probably not ).

balusatya · Post by **balusatya** » 01 Nov 2009, 12:21

We may call these as"Pedda Ragams " -term used by Subbarama Dikshidar.(courtesy-Prof.SKA.SRJ.)
Thodi.
Dasukoluvana-Alatoor.
ninnenammina(SS)-KVN(neraval @kanja...da..la...ya..da...kshi).
Dasarathe-TNS.&his inimitable srutibedam.
Jesinathelli-TNR.SKN.R.Vedavalli for her neraval in Rama sri--with swarams ending with s.r.g m.p . n .s.
Kalyani.
Tallininunera-DKJ.
Vasudevayeni-GNB.
Nijadasa-TVS.
Kamboji.
Majanaki-MMI
Devi nee pada-Prof.A.Sundaresan.
O Rangasai-M.santhanam.
yelara Krishna-DKJ.
Sankarabharanam.
Sarojadala -MS.
Akshayalingavibo-Ramnad Krishnan,TNS.
Mahalakshmi-Vasanthakokilam/TNS.
Enthku peddala-SSI.
Karaharapriya
nee samana(rama)-Alatoor.
Chakkani-MMI.
Palanimalai muruga-Sirkazhi Govindarajan.
Thathuvam....KPSundarambal.
Bharavi
Balagopala-N.Ramani.
Chintayamam-DKP.
RTP In MA-MS.
SS.Swrajathi-MDR,-MS&Semmagudi together.
I propose the respective forte for the listed ones:-
MMI-Kamboji&Bhairavi.
GNB,DKJ-Kalayani.
Alatoor-Thodi-Kriti
TNS-Raga &inmitable srutibedam.
MS-sankarabharanam
SSI-Neraval@Vedasastra in endukku peddala.
DKP&DKJ-Kalayani&Bhairavi chaste padanthara.