Dheerashankarabharanam


Dhīraśankarābharaṇaṃ, commonly known as Śankarābharaṇaṃ, is a rāga in Carnatic music. It is the 29th Melakarta rāga in the 72 Melakarta rāga system of Carnatic music. Since this raga has many Gamakās, it is glorified as "Sarva Gamaka Maaṇika Rakti Rāgaṃ" in Telugu.
By scale wise, the Śankarābharaṇaṃ scale corresponds to Bilaval in the Hindustani music system. The Western equivalent is the major scale, or the Ionian mode. Hence this rāga is one of the most popular scales across the world, known with different names in different musical styles.
Its nature is mellifluous and smooth. This rāga offers a large scope for compositions. It is ideal for a melodious, but still laid back majestic presentation.

Structure and Lakshana

It is the 5th rāga in the 5th Chakra Bāṇa. The mnemonic name is Bāṇa-Ma. The mnemonic phrase is sa ri ga ma pa da ni sa Its structure is as follows :
  • Arohana|:
  • Avarohana|:
The notes in this scale are shadjam, chatushruti rishabham, antara gandharam, shuddha madhyamam, paṅchamam, chatushruti dhaivatam and Kakali Nishadam. As it is a Melakarta rāga, by definition it is a Sampurṇa rāga. It is the Shuddha Madhyamam equivalent of 65th Melakarta rāga Kaḷyāṇi''.

''Janya'' Rāgas

Due to the even spacing of svarās, many janya rāgas can be derived from Śaņkarābharaṇaṃ. It is one of the melakarta rāgas that has high number of Janya rāgas associated with it.
Many of the Janya rāgas are very popular on their own, lending themselves to elaboration, interpretation and evoking different moods. Some of them are Arabhi, Atana, Bilahari, Devagaandhaari, Jana Ranjani, Hamsadhvani, Kadanakutuhalam, Niroshta, Shuddha Sāveri, Purnachandrika, Janaranjani, Kedaram, Kurinji, Navroj, Sarasvati-manohari, Naagadhvani etc.
See List of Janya rāgas for full list of rāgas associated with Śaṃkarābharaṇaṃ.

Compositions

Śankarābharaṇaṃ has been decorated with compositions by almost all composers. A few of the compositions are listed here.
Muthuswami Dikshitar also has a list of 22 "Nottu Svara" compositions, based on Western Major Scale notes to his credit.

Related rāgas

This section covers the theoretical and scientific aspect of this rāga.
Śaṃkarābharaṇaṃ's notes when shifted using Graha bhedam, yields 5 other major Melakarta rāgas, namely, Kaḷyāṇi, Hanumatodi, Natabhairavi, Kharaharapriya and Harikambhoji. Graha bhedam is the step taken in keeping the relative note frequencies same, while shifting the shadjam to the next note in the rāga. Refer table below for illustration of this concept.
RāgaMela #CDEFGABCDEFGABC
Śaṃkarābharaṇaṃ29SR2G3M1PD2N3S'R2'G3'M1'P'D2'N3'S' '
Kharaharapriya22SR2G2M1PD2N2S'
Hanumatodi08SR1G2M1PD1N2S'
Kaḷyāṇi65SR2G3M2PD2N3S'
Harikambhoji28SR2G3M1PD2N2S'
Natabhairavi20SR2G2M1PD1N2S'
Not a Melakarta--SR1G2M1M2D1N2S'
Shankarābharanam29SR2G3M1PD2N3S'

Notes on above table
C as the base for Śaṃkarābharaṇaṃ is chosen for above illustration only for convenience, as Carnatic music does not enforce strict frequency/note structure. The shadjam is fixed by the artist as per the vocal range or the instrument's base frequency. All the other svarams are relative to this shadjam, falling into a geometric progression-like frequency pattern.
The 7th Graha bhedam of Śaṃkarābharaṇaṃ has both madhyamams and no panchamam and hence will not be considered a valid melakarta. This is only a classification issue with respect to melakarta scales, while this structure could be theoretically used well to create good music.

Interesting features

The swaras are regularly spaced in these ragas. Hence these six ragas give very good melody, scope for elaboration, experimentation and exploration of phrases. In practice, Natabhairavi is not elaborated extensively much. Harikambhoji is taken up for elaboration, but not as much as the rest of the 4 ragas, namely, Śaṃkarābharaṇaṃ, Todi, Kaḷyāṇi and Kharaharapriya. One of these 4 rāgas is sung as the main rāga in a concert quite often.
As can be seen in the illustration, these rāgas can be played using just the white keys of a piano/ organ/ keyboard.

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