Aarabhi

Aarabhi is a raga that dates back to 7 AD. Originally, it was called as pazhanthakka in Tamil music. Then it was sung in a mixed variation of "Devagandhari" and "Aarabhi" (which is sung now). But now these ragas are clearly distinguishable.

Aarabhi raga is an "Owdava-sampoorna" raga meaning, in "arohana" 5 "swara" comes (so it is called "Owdava") and in "avarohana" all "swara" comes (so "sampoorna"). The "arohana" and "avarohana" structure is "sa ri(2) ma(1) pa da(2) sa" and "sa ni(2) da(2) pa ma(1) ga(2) ri(2) sa". It is the "janya" raaga of "Sankarabharanam" and unlike Anandabhairavi it has no "annya swaras" in it. It is more or less a flat raaga without much "kamaka"s and frequence variations. The important point is the swara "ga" always comes very close to "ma" so when we sing the phrase "ma ga ri" it sounds like "ma ma ri" likewise the swara "ni" always comes very close to the swara "sa" hence when we sing the phrase "sa ni da" it sounds like "sa sa da". The closest raga to this one is Devangandhari there are three main things which makes Aarabhi different
# In Aarabhi the swara "ga" is close to "ma" but in Devaghandhari it is not the same.
# The swara "ri" is not fluctuated in Aaarabhi but it is given "asaivu" in Devaghandhari
# The phrase "pa ma da sa" should not be sung in Aarabhi it is exclusive for Devaghandhari

When anyone say Aarabhi everyone will remember the pancharatana krithi "Sadhinchanae" by Saint Thyagaraja. Here we can note that Thyagaraja uses phrases like "sa sa da" in the charanam although there are phrases like "sa ni da" also.

This raaga is a very energetic raaga and it gives more creativity for doing brigas morethan gamakas. Other main difference between Aarabhi and Devaghandhari is the former one is a medium pace raaga and the latter one is a slow paced raaga. The example is the "Ksheerasagara sayana" by Saint Thyagaraja is a slow paced song and the "sadinchanae" is a medium paced one.

Compositions

[http://www.karnatik.com/ragasa.shtml#Arabi karnatik.com]

External links

* [http://www.rit.edu/~pnveme/raga/Raga_Arabhi.html Dr. P.Venkatraman's Page - Arabhi Raga Basics]

* [http://www.carnatica.net/newsletter/arabhinewsletter.htm CAC Newsletter-Comparing Arabhi and Devagandhari]

"Not strictly carnatic"
* [http://www.s-anand.net/Classical_Ilayaraja_11.html Ilayaraja and Arabhi]

* [http://www.malayalavedhi.com/wbboard/print.php?threadid=2233&boardid=5&styleid=2&sid=23986ad0a3260d997a0ef9fd34f2...&page=11 Malayalam Film Songs]