rAgaM madhyamAvati

Dr. P. P. Narayanaswami

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madhyamAvati is a "ma~ngaLakara rAgam", that is always sung in the concluding segment of any concert. Even though musicians render the Tyagaraja composition,  "pavamAna sutudupaTTu" in saurASTram as an appropriate ma"ngaLam, the concert usually ends with a brief  AlApana of rAgam madhayamAvti, at least lasting for a few seconds!  Again, the Papanasam Sivan  k.rti, "karpagamE kaN pArAy" in  madhyamAvati, praising Goddess karpagAmbAl of the kapAlIshvara temple in Mylapore is often sung (perhaps followed by a tiruppugazh song) prior to the ma"ngaLam. The fact that muttusvAmi dIkSitar chose rAgam madhyamAvati for his shrIvidyA mantra bIjAkSara k.rti, "shrI rAjarAjEshvarIM" speaks volumes about the auspiciousness of madhyamAvati.  In his k.rti, "dharmasaMvardhani", dIkSitar addresses Goddess dharmasaMvardhani of tiruvaiyAru as "mAdhava sOdari, sundari,  madhyamAvati sha"nkari".

ArOhaNam:                  sa ri ma pa ni Sa                       (S R2 M1 P N2 S)

avarOhaNam:              Sa ni pa ma ri sa                       (S N2 P M1 R2 S)

An audava - audava janya rAgam of meLam 22, kharaharapriya. Notes taken are:- SaDjam, catushruti riSabham, shuddha madhyamam, pa~ncamam, and kaishiki niSAdham; an upA"nga rAgam  which omits "ga" and "ni" in both ascent and descent.

• jIva svarams --- ri and ni, and they both are rendered  dIrgham.

• chAyA svarams ---  ri, ma, ni

• nyAsa svarams ---  ri, ma , pa,  ni

• graha svarams ---  sa, ri, ma, pa, ni

• The notes ri and ni are kampita svarams.

• ra~njaka prayogams ---  ri ma pa nI pa ma rI; sa NI PA; Ni sa ri sa rI; ma ri pa ma ni pa Sa ni RI Sa; ma pa ni pa NI pa m

• Compositions usually commence in sa (rAma kathA sudhA, pAli"ncu, so on), ri ("vinAyakuni"),  pa ("alakalallala") or ni ("nAdu pai")

• tristhAyI rAgam that portrays bhakti and karuNa rasam

• an ancient rAgam that is mentioned in "sa"ngIta ratnAkaram", "sa"ngIta makarandam",  and "sa"ngIta samaya sAram".

• madhyamAvati is a sarva svara mUrcchana kAraka rAgam, in the sense that it lends itself to  graha bedha techniques. The popular pentatonic  scales hindOLam, shuddhasAvEri,  shuddhadhanyAsi and mOhanam result, when graha bedham is  performed on the notes ri, ma, pa, and ni, respectively. madhyamAvati corresponds to the she~nturuti paNN of  the Tamil  music. It is a rAgam having a high concordance, since it takes the first three notes of the cycle of  the fifths, that is, sa, pa, and catushruti ri;  and the first three notes of the fourth cycle, namely, sa, ma and ni.

• A rAgam suitable for rendering shlokams, rAgamAlikAs, viruttams, that are usually sung in the post pallavi segment of a concert. Also, it appears in musical dramas and dances. aruNAcala kavi has employed this rAgam for many songs in his rAma nATakam.

• The pUrvAcAryas have declared in their descriptions that madhyamAvati is a "su rAgam" (shubhakaram --- auspicious). It is said that madhyamAvati is so auspicious that it is capable of warding off the sins (dOSam) caused by singing various rAgams at inauspicious moments. So, even a slight rendition or a brief AlApanA of madhyamAvati wards off these sins and bestows auspiciousness.

Ve"nkaTamakhin classifies madhyamAvati as a bhASA"nga janyam number 8, under the asampUrna mELam 22, shrI.

Definition

"madhyamAdissu rAgO'yam madhyamagraha samyutaH |

 ga dha lOpAdauDavassyAt sAyamkAlE pragIyatE ||"

mUrcchana

ArOhaNam :     sa ri ma pa ni sa

avarOhaNam:  sa ni pa ma ri sa

bhASA"ngam, auDavam; gAndhAra and dhaivata varjyam; madhyama graham; rakti rAgam; suitable for singing in late evenings; also known as madhyamAvati. SubbarAma dIkSitar's treatise, "sa"ngIta saMpradAya pradarshini"  gives a lakSya gItam in tripuTa tALam by ve"nkaTamakhi, , the k.rti "dharmasamvardhani" in rUpaka tALam by muttusvAmi dIkSitar,  and a sa~ncAri  in rUpakam by subbarAma dIkSitar, himself. 

Hindusthani rAgams, madhmAd sAra"ng (also known as madhyamAdi or madhyamAditi sAra"ng) corresponds to KarnaTik  madhyamAvati. It belongs to the kAfi thaTh, and has the scale sa ri ma pa ni sa --- sa ni pa ma ri sa. The svarams taken are:---  tIvra ri, shuddha ma, kOmal ni. vAdi is ri, and samvAdi is pa. 

There are all sorts of compositions (varNam, k.rti, tillAna etc) in madhyamAvati.  This rAgam has ample scope for AlApana, and pallavi expositions are very common.  Segments of  rAgamAlikas, generally  the concluding segment, feature madhyamAvati as a preferred rAgam. The Trinity have their usual share of compositions in madhyamAvati, with tyAgarAja contributing the largest. There are numerous rAgamAlika lines featuring  madhyamAvati that have become famous. maharAja svAti tirunAL's sAvEri rAga k.rti, "bhAvayAmi raghurAmam" carved out as a beautiful rAgamAlika by Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, and popularized by M. S. Subbalakshmi, has the last stanza "kalita vara setu bandham" the description of rAma paTTAbhiSEkam, set  in madhyamAvati. Again svAti tirunAL's dashAvatAra rAgamAlika "kamalajAsya" features madhyamAvati in the vAmana avatAram line "kalita vAmana rUpa". muttusvAmi dIkSitar concludes his dashAvatAra rAgamAlika, "mAdhavO mAM pAtu", by invoking Lord ve"nkatEshvara of tirupati as the tenth avatAram, in the lines "kaliyuga vara ve"nkatEsham", set in madhyamAvati. We already pointed out that the  shrIvidyA bIja mantra k.rti of dIkSitar, " shrI rAjarAjEshvarIm" is in the auspicious rAgam madhyamAvati.

Select Compositions in madhyamAvati

varNam

sAdaramiha bhaje, Adi (svAti tirunAL)

saraguNa nannela (tiruvoTTriyUr  tyAgarAja)

k.rtis

dharma saMvardhani, rUpakam (muttusvAmi dIkSitar)

mahA tripurasundari, rUpakam (muttusvAmi dIkSitar)

pannaga shayana padmanAbha, Adi (muttusvAmi dIkSitar)

shrI rAjarAjEshvarIm , rUpakam (muttusvAmi dIkSitar)

b.rhannAyakI nannu, tishra maTyam (shyAma shAstri)

kAmAkSi lOkasAkSiNi, tripuTa (shyAma shAstri)

pAli~ncu kAmAkSi, Adi (shyAma shAstri)

aDigi sukhamu leva, mishra cApu (tyAgarAja)

alakalallalADaga, rUpakam (tyAgarAja)

evariccirirA, Adi (tyAgarAja)

dEvI shrI tapastIrthapura, mishra cApu (tyAgarAja)

nagumOmu galavAni, Adi (tyAgarAja) - utsava saMpradAya k.rti

nalinalOcana ninu gAka, mishra cApu (tyAgarAja)

nAdupai balikEru narulu, khaNDa cApu (tyAgarAja)

muccaTa brahmAdulaku, Adi (tyAgarAja)

rAmakathAsudhArasa, Adi (tyAgarAja)

rAma nAma bhajarE , Adi (tyAgarAja)

rAma samayamu brOvarA, Adi (tyAgarAja)

vinAyakuni valenu, Adi (tyAgarAja)

ve"nkaTesha ninnE, Adi (tyAgarAja)

sharaNa sharaNanucu, Adi (tyAgarAja)

shrI rAma jayarAma sh.r"ngArarAma, Adi (tyAgarAja) -- prahLAda bhakti vijayam

bhAvayE padmanAbham, Adi (svAti tirunAL)

dEvakIsuta pAhi mAm, Adi (svAti tirunAL)

shrIraghurAmam, khaNDa cApu (svAti tirunAL)

kOsalendra mAmavAmita, Adi (svAti tirunAL)

shrI padmanAbha kalayitum, mishra cApu (svAti tirunAL)

sAdaramiha bhaje, Adi (svAti tirunAL)

sArasamukha sarasijanAbha, Adi (svAti tirunAL)

smarati nu mAM sadayam, Adi (svAti tirunAL)

vanajAkSam cintayEham, Adi (svAti tirunAL)

vandAn vandAn bharatan (aruNAcala kavi) -- rAmanATakam

gItAmudamey , Adi (kOTIshvara iyer)

pArthasArathi nannu (rAmanAthapuram shrInivAsa iyengAr)

sharavaNabhava guhanE (pApanAsham shivan)

karpagamE kaNpArAy (pApanAsham shivan)

kaNNA kAttaruL, Adi (pApanAsham shivan)

adbuta lIlaikaLai, Adi (pApanAsham shivan)

ADAdu asha.gAdu vA kaNNA, Adi (UttukkADu ve"nkaTa kavi)

AnamaTTum 'sonnEn, Adi (UttukkADu ve"nkaTa kavi)

Ashaiyinai pAraDi, Adi (UttukkADu ve"nkaTa kavi)

e"ngE e"ngEyaDiannamE, Adi (UttukkADu ve"nkaTa kavi)

sha"nkari shrIrAjarAjeshvari, Adi (UttukkADu ve"nkaTa kavi)

sundara nandakumAra, Adi (UttukkADu ve"nkaTa kavi)

sundara nanda vaikuNTha harE, Adi (UttukkADu ve"nkaTa kavi)

nannu brova rAdA, Adi (mysore vAsudEvAcAriar)

rAmAbhirAma, Adi (mysore vAsudEvAcAriar)

sharavaNabhava, Adi (kaviku~njara bhArati)

shrI paramEshvara, Adi (muttiah bhAgavatar)

shrIrAma jaya bhauma, Adi (muttiah bhAgavatar)

shrImad tripurasundari, Adi (muttiah bhagavatar)

ma"ngaLa pradambulicu, rUpakam (ponnayya pillai)

(This  is only a meager list covering major composers, and is certainly not exhaustive!)

I have heard a tillAnA in madhyamAvati, composed and rendered by N. Ramani.  The  ma"ngaLaM composition, "ma"ngaLaM pradaMbulicu" by the Tanjore Quartet has been in vogue as a dance piece.  There are plenty of film songs in south Indian languages that are set in madhyamAvati. 

Some allied rAgams

shrI

The rAgaM shrI  is very close to, and often mistaken for  madhyamAvati.  It is an auDava vakra saMpUrNa rAgam, with the scale:

sa ri ma pa ni Sa;  Sa ni pa dha ni pa ma ri Ga ri sa.

According to dIkSitar school of asampUrNa mELa paddhati, rAgA"nga rAgam 22 is shrI.

Definition  (Ve"nkaTamakhin):

shrI rAgaH sagrahaH pUrNaH cArhE cAlpadhaivataH |

avarohe ga vakraH syAt sAyam gEyaH shubhAvahaH ||

ArohaNaM:                   sa ri ma pa  ni Sa

avarohaNaM:               Sa ni pa dha ni pa ma ri ga ri sa

The notes taken are:  SaDjaM. catushruti  ri, shuddha ma, pa~ncamam,  catushruti dha, sAdhAraNa ga, kAkaLi ni,. In the ArohaNam, dha and ni are absent. Only the ArohaNam permits vakra sa~ncAra. In fact there are two vakra sa~ncArams. The rAgam gets a beauty by the elongation and gamaka on the note  ga. While shrI almost resembles madhyamAvati, the omission of the notes dha and ga in madhyamAvati makes a clear distinction.  Phrases like "pa dha ni pa ma ri ga ri sa" are repeatedly employed while singing shrI insisting on the usage of dhaivatam  and gAndhAram.  Hence while rendering madhyamAvati, care should be taken not to touch these notes even slightly.  While shrI has greater majesty and depth, madhyamAvati has greater number of compositions.

maNira"ngu

maNira"ngu is another janyam of kharaharapriya with scale sa ri ma pa ni sa;  sa ni pa ma ga ri sa. It has the same arohaNam as madhyamAvati, but takes the note ga in avarohaNam, which is not allowed in  madhyamAvati. It omits the note dha, which is present in  shrI.

puSpalatika

The rAgam puSpalatika with the scale --- sa ri ga ma pa ni sa; sa ni pa ma ga ri sa --- is  another  rAgam closely related to madhyamAvati or shrI. This rAgaM has been popularized by Tirupati Narayanaswami's unique k.rti, "ika nainanA”.

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