Sahana ragam

Sahana (pronounced sahānā, _sa. सहाना, _ta. ஸஹானா) is a popular rāgam (musical scale) in Carnatic music. It is a janya rāgam (derived scale) associated with the 28^th Melakarta rāgam Harikambhoji.

tructure and Lakshana

It is a Vakra sampoorna ragam. Vakra, means crooked. The notes in ascending and descending scale do not follow a strict progression, but are zig-zag. Hence the note phrases contain such vakra phrases, lending a unique beauty to this rāgam. Though it is a sampoorna rāgam (contains all 7 notes), the vakra scale means it is not considered a "melakarta", as melakarta rāgams must have strictly ascending and descending scales.

Its IAST|ārohaṇa-avarohaṇa structure (ascending and descending scale) is as follows (see "swaras in Carnatic music" for details on below notation and terms):
*IAST|ārohaṇa: S R2 G3 M1 P M1 D2 N2 S
*IAST|avarohaṇa: S N2 D2 P M1 G3 M1 R2 G3 R2 S(Chathusruthi Rishabham, Antara Gandharam, Suddha Madhyamam, Chathusruthi Dhaivatham, Kaisiki Nishadham)

elect compositions

There are a large number of popular songs composed in this rāgam in Carnatic Music as well as Tamil Film Music. Here are some Carnatic music compositions.

*"Giripai nelakona" and "Vandanamu raghunandana" composed by Thyagaraja
*"Rama ika nannu brovara" by Patnam Subramania Iyer
*"Manamu kavalannu" by Muthiah Bhagavatar
*"Sri kamalambikaya" by Muthuswami Dikshitar