Pavani (ragam)

Pavani (pronounced pāvani, Sanskrit पावनि, Tamil பாவனி) is a rāgam (musical scale) in Carnatic music (South Indian classical music). It is the 41^st Melakarta rāgam in the 72 melakarta rāgam system of Carnatic music.

Structure and Lakshana

It is the 5^th ragam in the 7^th Chakra "Rishi". The mnemonic name is "Rishi-Ma". The mnemonic phrase is "sa ra ga mi pa dhi nu""Ragas in Carnatic music" by Dr. S. Bhagyalekshmy, Pub. 1990, CBH Publications] .

Its IAST|ārohaṇa-avarohaṇa structure is as follows (see "swaras in Carnatic music" for details on below notation and terms):
*IAST|ārohaṇa: S R1 G1 M2 P D2 N3 S
*IAST|avarohaṇa: S N3 D2 P M2 G1 R1 S

(Suddha Rishabham, Suddha Gandharam, Prati Madhyamam, Chathusruthi Dhaivatham, Kakali Nishadham)

It is a sampoorna rāgam - a rāgam that has all seven swaras (notes).

Janya rāgams

"Chandrajyoti" is a "janya" rāgam (derived scale) that is associated with it, in which Thyagaraja has composed couple of songs. See "List of Janya Ragas" for a full list of Pavani's janyas.

Compositions

*"Sachidanandamaya" by Muthuswami Dikshitar
*"Anjaade" by Koteeswara Iyer

Related rāgams

This section covers the theoretical and scientific aspect of this rāgam.

Pavani's notes when shifted using Graha bedham does not yield any other Melakarta. Graha bedham is the step taken in keeping the relative note frequencies same, while shifting the Shadjam to the next note in the rāgam.

This is obvious for the "Rishi" chakra rāgams, as they have 3 missing notes between G1 and M2. Since no other swara pair in rules of Melakarta rāgam have a 3 note gap, Graha bedham yields only invalid scales within those rules.

References