Udayaravichandrika, or Shuddha Dhanyasi, is a
rāga
A raga ( ; , ; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a musical mode, melodic mode. It is central to classical Indian music. Each raga consists of an array of melodic structures with musical motifs; and, fro ...
m in
Carnatic music
Carnatic music (known as or in the Dravidian languages) is a system of music commonly associated with South India, including the modern Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and southern Odisha.
It is o ...
(musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is an ''audava'' rāgam (or ''owdava'' rāgam, meaning pentatonic scale). 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 vari ...
'' rāgam (derived scale), as it does not have all the seven ''
swara
Swara () or svara is an Indian classical music term that connotes simultaneously a breath, a vowel, a note, the sound of a musical note corresponding to its name, and the successive steps of the octave, or ''saptanka''. More comprehensively ...
s'' (musical notes). Closer to ''Udayaravichandrika'' in
Hindustani music
Hindustani classical music is the Indian classical music, classical music of the Indian subcontinent's northern regions. It may also be called North Indian classical music or ''Uttar Bhartiya shastriya sangeet''. The term ''shastriya sangeet'' ...
is ''
Dhani'' aka
Gaundgiri.
[''Ragas in Carnatic music'' by Dr. S. Bhagyalekshmy, Pub. 1990, CBH Publications][''Raganidhi'' by P. Subba Rao, Pub. 1964, The Music Academy of Madras] But Dhani has N2 while Udayaravichandrika N3 in theory. Its Western equivalent is the ''
Minor pentatonic scale''. This raga has a great association with the
Chinese musicology
Chinese musicology is the academic study of traditional Chinese music. This discipline has a very long history. Traditional Chinese music can be traced back to around 8,000 years ago during the Neolithic age. The concept of music, called ''yue'' ...
, which is highly influenced by this raga, and is also called the ''"Chinese Scale"''. The ''Prati Madhyamam'' () equivalent of this raga is "Sumanesaranjani" (alias "Samudrapriya"), whose Hindustani Equivalent is "Madhukauns"
Structure and Lakshana

''Udayaravichandrika'' is a symmetric rāgam that does not contain ''rishabham'' or ''dhaivatam''. It is a pentatonic scale (''audava-audava'' rāgam in Carnatic music classification – ''audava'' meaning 'of five') and is equivalent to the
minor pentatonic scale in
Western music.
Its ' structure (ascending and descending scale) is as follows (see
''swaras'' in Carnatic music for details on below notation and terms):
The notes used in this scale ''sadharana gandharam, shuddha madhyamam, panchamam'' and ''kaisiki nishadham''. ''Udayaravichandrika'' is considered a ''janya'' rāgam of ''
Kharaharapriya
Kharaharapriya is a rāga in Carnatic music. It is the 22nd ''melakarta'' rāga (parent scale) in the 72 ''melakarta'' rāga system. It is possible that the name of the ragam was originally ''Harapriya'' but it was changed to conform to the Kat ...
'', the 22nd ''
melakarta
Mēḷakartā is a collection of fundamental musical scales ( ragas) in Carnatic music (South Indian classical music). ''Mēḷakartā'' ragas are parent ragas (hence known as ''janaka'' ragas) from which other ragas may be derived. A ''melaka ...
'' rāgam,
though it can be derived from other ''melakarta'' rāgams, ''
Hanumatodi
Hanumatodi, more popularly known as Todi (pronounced hanumatōdi and tōdi), is a rāgam (musical scale) in Carnatic music. It is the 8th ''melakarta'' rāgam (parent scale) in the 72 ''melakarta'' rāgam system. This is sung very often in conce ...
'', ''
Natabhairavi
Naṭabhairavi is a rāgam in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is the 20th ''melakarta'' rāgam in the 72 ''melakarta'' rāgam system. It corresponds to the Natural minor scale (alias Aeolian mode) of western mus ...
'' or ''
Natakapriya
Natakapriya, (pronounced nāţakapriya, meaning ''the one dear to theatre'') is a rāgam in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is the 10th ''melakarta'' rāgam (parent scale) in the 72 ''melakarta'' rāgam system. A ...
'', by dropping both ''rishabham'' and ''dhaivatam''.
Udayaravichandrika and the raga Suddha Dhanyasi are closely related,
so much that many performers treat the two as interchangeable. Some contemporary practitioners consider Suddha Dhanyasi as more inflected (i.e., using more ''gamaka''s), and Udayaravichandrika to be more in the Hindustani tradition with almost bare (i.e., uninflected) notes. Puritans, however, refer to the fact that Udayaravichandrika is an ancient raga in the
Venkatamakhin
Venkatamakhin (; ) or Venkatamakhi, was an Indian poet, musician, and musicologist of Carnatic music. He is renowned for his ''Chaturdandiprakashika'' in which he explicates the Melakarta (asampurna scheme), melakarta system of classifying rag ...
tradition and was reputed to be created by
Muthuswamy Dikshitar
Muthuswami Dikshitar (Mudduswamy Dikshitar) (, 24 March 1776 – 21 October 1835), mononymously Dikshitar, was a South Indian poet, singer, veena player, and a prolific composer of Indian classical music. He was the youngest member of what is r ...
himself. However, at that time, it had ''kakali nishadam'' rather than the ''kaisiki nishadam'' of Suddha Dhanyasi.
However, the Kaisaki nishadam is used in this topic making more towards Sudha Dhanyasi. The Udaya Ravichandrika, in its pure
form should have the following arohana and avarohana:
arohanam =
avarohanam =
In recent years this distinction seems to have blurred, and both ragas are considered roughly equivalent.
Popular compositions
Here are some popular ''
kritis'' composed in Suddha Dhanyasi raga.
*''Enta nerchina'' by
Thyagaraja
*''subrahmaṇyena rakṣito'haṃ'' and ''śrī pārthasārathinā'' by
Muthuswami Dikshitar
Muthuswami Dikshitar (Mudduswamy Dikshitar) (, 24 March 1776 – 21 October 1835), mononymously Dikshitar, was a South Indian poet, singer, veena player, and a prolific composer of Indian classical music. He was the youngest member of what is re ...
*''Himagiri tanaye'' by
Muthiah Bhagavatar
*''Samodam Chinthayami'' by Maharaja
Swathi Thirunal
*''Bhavamu lona'', ''Vinaro Bhagyamu'' by
Annamacharya
Tallapaka Annamacharya () (09 May 1408 – 23 February 1503), also popularly known as Annamayya, was a Telugu musician, composer, and a Hindu saint. He is the earliest known Indian musician to compose songs called '' samkirtanas.'' His devoti ...
*''
Narayana Ninna Namada'', ''Chandava Nodire Gokula'' by
Purandara Dasa
Purandara Dasa (IAST: Purandara Dāsa; (1470 – 1564) was a composer, singer and a Haridasa philosopher from present-day Karnataka, India. He was a follower of Madhwacharya, Madhvacharya's Dwaitha, Dvaita philosophy. He was one of the chi ...
*''O Santasada Seleye'' By
Bannanje Govindacharya
*''Ishtu dina'' By
Kanaka Dasa
Kanaka Dasa (1509–1606) also known as Daasashreshta Kanakadasa (ದಾಸಶ್ರೇಷ್ಠ ಕನಕದಾಸ), was a Haridasa saint and philosopher of Dvaita Vedanta, from present-day Karnataka, India. He was a follower of Madhvacharya' ...
*''śrī hari-vallabhē'' by
Mysore Vasudevachar
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 ...
*''śarvaṃ samāśraye'haṃ'' by Tulasivanam (pen-name of Ramachandran Nair from Kerala, India)
*''khēlati piṇḍāṇḍē bhagavān'' by
Sadasiva Brahmendra
*''kālātītāya khaṭvāṅginē namastē'' by
Muthiah Bhagavatar
*''bhēruṇḍāmbē bēḍuvē'' by
Muthiah Bhagavatar
*''āyar pāḍi kaṇṇā'' by Padma Viraraghavan
*''pālaya māṃ siddhi vināyaka'' by Mysore Sadashiva Rao
*''Niradhmukha Ninne Charanam'' by G N Balasubramaniam
Film songs
Language:
Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
People, culture and language
* Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia
**Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka
** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...
Non Film / Album
Language:
Malayalam
Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...
Language:
Kannada
Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...
Language: Telugu
Language:
Hindi
Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...
Note that the following songs are tuned in
Raag Dhani, the Hindustani equivalent of Shuddha Dhanyasi
Related rāgams
This section covers the theoretical and scientific aspect of this rāgam.
''Graha bhedam''
''Udayaravichandrika's'' notes when shifted using ''
Graha bhedam
''Graha Bhedam'' in Carnatic music is the process (or result of the process) of shifting the Tonic (music), Tonic note (''Śruti (music), śruti'') to another note in the rāgam and arriving at a different rāgam. Its equivalent in Hindustani cl ...
'', yields four other major pentatonic rāgams, namely, ''
Mohanam
Mohanam is a raga 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). ...
'', ''
Hindolam
Hindōḷaṃ is a ragam in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is an ''audava'' rāgam (5 notes in arohana and avarohana) as it does not have all the seven ''swaras'' (musical notes). Hindolam is not the same a ...
'', ''
Madhyamavathi'' and ''
Shuddha Saveri''. ''Graha bhedam'' is the step taken in keeping the relative note frequencies same, while shifting the ''shadjam'' to the next note in the rāgam. See ''
Graha bhedam on Mohanam'' for more details and illustration of this concept.
Scale similarities
*''
Dhanyāsi'' is a rāgam which has the ascending scale of ''Udayaravichandrika'' (''Shuddha Dhanyasi'') and descending scale of ''Hanumatodi''. Its structure is :
*''
Abheri'' is a rāgam which has the ascending scale of ''Udayaravichandrika'' and descending scale of ''Kharaharapriya''. Its structure is :
Notes
References
{{Janya
Janya ragas
Janya ragas (kharaharapriya)