Bilahari is a rāgam in

Carnatic music Carnatic music, known as or in the South Indian languages, is a system of music commonly associated with South India, including the modern Indian states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, and Sri Lanka. It is ...

(musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is a ''

janya ''Janya'' is a term meaning "derive". In Carnatic (South Indian) music a ''janya raga'' is one derived from one of the 72 ''melakarta'' ragas (fundamental melodic structures). ''Janya'' ragas are classified into various types based on a varie ...

'' rāgam (derived scale) from the 29th '' melakarta'' scale '' Sankarabharanam''. It is a ''janya'' scale, as it does not have all the seven ''

swara Svara or swara (Devanagari: स्वर, generally pronounced as ''swar'') is a Sanskrit word that connotes simultaneously a breath, a vowel, the sound of a musical note corresponding to its name, and the successive steps of the octave or '' ...

s'' (musical notes) in the ascending scale. It is a combination of the pentatonic scale ''

Mohanam Mohanam is a rāga in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is an ''audava'' rāga (or ''owdava'' rāga, meaning pentatonic scale). It is usually described as a '' janya'' rāga of Harikamboji (28th Melakartha Raga) ...

'' and the ''

sampurna raga In Indian classical music, Sampūrṇa rāgas (संपूर्ण, Sanskrit for 'complete', also spelt as ''sampoorna'') have all seven ''swaras'' in their scale. In general, the swaras in the ''Arohana'' and ''Avarohana'' strictly follow the a ...

'' scale ''Sankarabharanam''.''Ragas in Carnatic music'' by Dr. S. Bhagyalekshmy, Pub. 1990, CBH Publications It is a morning rāgam.''Raganidhi'' by P. Subba Rao, Pub. 1964, The Music Academy of Madras

Structure and Lakshana

''Bilahari'' is an asymmetric rāgam that does not contain ''madhyamam'' or ''nishādham'' in the ascending scale. It is an ''audava-sampurna'' rāgam (or ''owdava'' rāgam, meaning pentatonic ascending scale). Its ' structure (ascending and descending scale) is as follows: * : they are used in every song * : The notes used in this scale are ''shadjam, chathusruthi rishabham, antara gandhara, panchamam'' and ''chathusruthi dhaivatham'' in ascending scale, with ''kakali nishadham'' and ''shuddha madhyamam'' included in descending scale. For the details of the notations and terms, see ''swaras'' in Carnatic music. This rāgam also uses ''kaishiki nishadham'' (N2) as an external note (''anya swara'') in the descending scale. Hence it is considered a ''bhashanga rāgam'', a scale with notes external to the parent scale.

Popular compositions

There are many compositions set to ''Bilahari'' rāgam. Here are some popular ''

kritis ''Kriti'' (Sanskrit: कृति, ''kṛti'') is a format of musical composition typical to Carnatic music. ''Kritis'' form the mental backbone of any typical Carnatic music concert and is the longer format of Carnatic song. "Kriti" also means C ...

'' composed in ''Bilahari''. *''Sharanu Janakana'' By

Purandara Dasa Purandara Dasa ( IAST: Purandara dāsa) ( 1470 – 1565) was a Haridasa philosopher and a follower of Madhwacharya 's Dwaitha philosophy -saint from present-day Karnataka, India. He was a composer, singer and one of the chief founding-pr ...

*''Belagu Javadi Baro'' By

Vadiraja Tirtha Sri Vadiraja Teertharu (1480 – 1600) was a Dvaita philosopher, poet, traveller and mystic. A polymath of his time, he authored many works, often polemical, on Madhva theology and metaphysics. Additionally, he composed numerous poems and as ...

*''Lakshmi Shobhane'' By

. This is one of the greatest literary works of

with 112 Charanas and the longest composition known by a carnatic composer *''Hanumana Maneyavaru'' by Vidyaprasanna teertha in

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

*''Na jeevadhara'', ''Dorakuna ituvanti'' and ''Kanukontini'' composed by

Tyagaraja Thyagaraja (Telugu: త్యాగరాజ) (4 May 1767 – 6 January 1847), also known as Thyāgayya and in full as Kakarla Thyagabrahmam, was a composer and vocalist of Carnatic music, a form of Indian classical music. Tyagaraja and his ...

*''Sri Balasubramanya'', ''Kamakshi Sri Varalakshmi'' by

Muthuswami Dikshitar Muthuswami Dikshitar (Mudduswamy Dikshitar)(, 24 March 1776 – 21 October 1835), mononymously Dikshitar, was a South Indian poet, singer and veena player, and a legendary composer of Indian classical music, who is considered one of the musical ...

*''Smara Sada'', ''Aaradhayami'', ''Gopalam Seveham'', ''Pahi Padmanabha'', ''Jaya Suganalaya'', ''Pahi Sarasanabha'', ''Santhatham Bhajami'' and ''Vimukhava Tava'' by Maharaja Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma *''Parithana michite'' by Patnam Subramania Iyer *''Sri Chamundeshwari'' by

Mysore Vasudevacharya Mysore Vasudevacharya (28 May 1865 – 17 May 1961) was an Indian musician and composer of Carnatic music compositions who belonged to the direct line of Thyagaraja's disciples. Vasudevachar's compositions (numbering over 200) were mostly in Telu ...

*''Anaamilo mahaboob'' is a Khayal in

Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

by Maharaja Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma *'' Puraya Mama Kamam '' is a Tharangam by Narayana Teertha * "Raa ra venu gopala" a famous Swarajathi was composed in Bilahari *Rabindranath Tagore has composed 'Ami Marer Sagor Pari Debo' In Raga Bilahari. *" Intha Chouka" is a varnam composed by Veenai Kuppaiyer Maa Mayura a Tamil Kriti composed by Mazhavai Chidambara Bharathi

Film songs

Language:
Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

Related rāgams

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

Scale similarities

*''Mohanam'' has a symmetric pentatonic scale, with the notes same as the ascending scale of ''Bilahari''. Its ' structure is S R2 G3 P D2 S : S D2 P G3 R2 S *''

Mohanakalyani Mohanakalyani is a rāgam in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is a ''janya'' rāgam (derived scale) from the 65th ''melakarta'' scale Mechakalyani. It is a ''janya'' scale, as it does not have all the seven ''sw ...

'' is a rāgam which has the ''prati madhyamam'' in descending scale (descending scale of '' Kalyani'') in place of the ''shuddha madhyamam''. Its ' structure is S R2 G3 P D2 S : S N3 D2 P M2 G3 R2 S *'' Garudadhvani'' is a rāgam which has the ascending and descending scales interchanged, in comparison with ''Bilahari''. Its ' structure is S R2 G3 M1 P D2 N3 S : S D2 P G3 R2 S Desakshi is a raga which is similar to Bilahari. The arohana remains the same, while the sampoorna avarohana has Kaishiki Nishada in place of Kakali Nishada.

Notes

References

{{Janya, state=collapsed Janya ragas