The note ma is the
bisecting line in Venkatamakhi's melakarta scheme. Each raga in the first half
of thirty-six raga-s has its counterpart in the secondhalf. Raga-s in the first
half have suddhamadhyama (F natural) as a constant, those in the second-half
the pratimadhyama (F sharp) as the constant. A raga in the second group is
therefore called a pratimadhyama raga.
The full name of Kalyani,
the sixty-fifth mela in the melakarta scheme of Venkatamakhi, is Mechakalyani,
as the word 'mecha' was prefixed to the raga to conform to the Katapayadi
formula (see SRUTI, Issue 18, p.35). In the Dikshitar school it is known as
Santakalyani. It is the pratimadhyama raga of Sankarabharanam — that is, the
only swara on which the two raga-s differ is the madhyama. The fifth raga in
the Rudra chakra, Kalyani is a murchchana-kara mela -- that is, its ri, ga, pa,
da or ni taken as sadja or the tonic, will result in five other melakarta
raga-s: Harikambhoji, Natabhairavi, Sankarabharanam, Kharaharapriya and Todi
respectively. While it is a sampurna raga, some phrases leaving out both sa and
pa embellish the beauty of the raga: for instance the phrase da -
ni-ri-ga-ma-da-ni-ri-da-ma-ga-ri. Gamaka-s of all varieties are not only
permitted but lend colour to Kalyani.
Tyagaraja composed
nineteen kriti-s and Muthuswami Dikshitar ten in Kalyani. Papanasam Sivan too
contributed nineteen. Among songs in Kalyani by other composers are:
Mysore Vasudevachar: Inda
paramuga, Tyagaraja guruvaram Mysore Sadasiva Rao: Kanukoni; Rajarajeswari and
Raamanee Varnindunamma.
Walajapet Venkatramana
Bhagavatar: Kodanda diksba; Narada gana; Sarojaksha.
Pallavi Gopala Iyer:
Mahishaauramardhini.
Koteeawara Iyer: Sambo
Sankara; Sadanandame.
Tiruvotriyur Tyagier:
Saraswate.
Tanjavur Ponniah Pillai:
Neeaari aaati; Ninnupate; Sudani ninne.
Tiruvarur Ramaswamy
Pillai: Idu nalla samayam.
Latangi, which ia also a
melakarta raga (sixty-third), differs from Kalyani in only one note — da.
Latangi takes suddha daivatam (da) while Kalyani takes chatusra daivatam (di).
A composition in Latangi which might help the listener to note its distinctive
feature is 'Aparada mulannu'.
Geeta-s
These are technical compositions in which raga-s are defined in terms of
swara-s and characteristic sanchara-s.
Lakshana Geeta-s
These are the geeta-s written by Venkatamakhi in his exposition of the
seventy-two mela-s. Each lakshana geeta identifies the mela, the swara-s it
takes and the janya raga-s which are to be grouped under it.
Prabhanda-s
These are technical compositions and several kinds of them are mentioned in
musical treatises. In Tamil literature, the hymns composed by Vaishnavite
saints are called prabhanda-s.
Daru A kind of technical composition
used largely in Bharatanatyam and opera music.
Akshiptika An authoritative treatise divides the process
of raga alapana into three parts: akshiptika or the outlining of the raga;
vardhani or elaboration ; and vidarini or makarini which means the finale.
Sometimes the word akshiptika is used also to denote a swara from which the
song commences (which is better known as the grahaswara).
Ghana raga
Ghana is the name given to a particular method of raga elaboration in which
three or four adjacent notes are taken as a group and given a number of
sanchara-s and, proceeding in this manner, the entire range of the raga, from
the mandra to the tara stayi, is covered. Those raga-s which have been held as
eminently suitable for this type of treatment are called ghana raga-s.
Examples: Nata, Goula, Arabhi, Varali and Sri.
