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Appropriately named for its beauty, rAgam MOHANAM is a very
pleasing and enchanting pentatonic scale, that captures the mind of every
listener. It is a janyam of mELam 28, harikAMbhOji. But the scale of
mOhanam also fits into mELams: dhIrasha”nkarAbharaNam (29), vAcaspati
(64), or mEcakalyANi (65). There is endless debate on whether the parent
scale should harikambhOji or kalyAni!
ArOhaNam: s r
g p d s* (S R2 G3 P D2 S)
AvarOhaNam: s* d
p g r s (S D2 P G3 R2 S)
· An
auDava – auDava rAgam (5 - 5) - The notes “ma” and “ni” are absent in
both ArOhaNam and avarOhaNam. Svarams taken are: SaDjam, catushruti .rSabham,
antara gAndhAram, pa~ncamam, and catushruti dhaivatam. Thus, the mnemonic
scale is sa ri gu pa dhi.
· It
is a sarva svara gamaka vArikA rakti rAgam – in which all svarams can
be rendered with gamakam. Especially, the notes ri, ga, dha can be
oscillated, and gamakams on these notes add beauty to this rAgam.
· rAga
chAyA svarams/jIva svarams: ri,
ga, dha
· amsha
svarams:
ga and pa
· graha
svarams :
ga, pa dha
· jhaNTa
svara prayOgams (gg pp dd ss),
and dhATu svara prayOgams
(d g r s d p; d r s d p; g d p g r; r p g r s) bring out the melodic
beauty of mOhanam
· A
sarva svara mUrccanakAraka rAgam. All the four notes ri, ga, pa, dha
admit graha bhEdam (modal shift of tonic). The ri, ga, pa, dha
mUrccanas of mOhanam result in rAgams madhyamAvati, hindOLam, shuddha
sAvEri and udayaravicandrika, respectively.
· A
rAgam with symmetrical tetrachords.
· A
rAgam that gives ample scope for a detailed AlApana. Lengthy AlApana in
nAdasvaram instrument during weddings is a real treat. It is a rAgam suitable
for portraying a vivid description (varNanam)
· Suitable
for singing at all times, but the night time is best suited for this rAgam.
· mOhanam
is featured in operas and dance dramas.
· An
auspicious, trishAyI rAgam, invariably featured in most concerts. This
rAgam fits into any segment of the concert, in any category, whether it is a
varNam, a weighty k.ti, a detailed pallavi exposition, a rAgamalika, a
viruttam, shlOkam, jAvaLi, or tillANa. There is even a ma”ngaLam in mOhanam
composed by tyAgarAja as the conclusion of his opera – pahLAda bhakti
vijayam.
· Compositions
usually commence in the notes sa, ga, or dha.
· The
ancient name of mOhanam is “rEgupti” or “raghupati”.
· The
rAgam was also known as “mullattImbavani” in tamil paNN music
· mOhanam
basically portrays vIra rasam. However, a wide range of emotions can
be invoked with this rAgam. The song "nanu pAlimpa" of saint tyAgarAja
radiates love in a leisurely pace. There is kAruNyam also here. Again, a
sense of majesty is conveyed in the lines describing the grandeur of Lord rAma.
On the other hand, the tyAgarAja k.rti "evarUra ninnuvinA" seems to portray a
resolute attitude!
Historically speaking,
mOhanam is perhaps the oldest rAgam known to mankind. Dr. S. Ramanathan's
doctoral dissertation on the music in shilappadikAram mentions that it is one
of the most ancient paNNs Notes figuring in mOhanam are the earliest notes
met in the cycle of fifths (sa – pa series), that is, sa – pa; pa – ri; ri –
dha; dha –ga. This pentatonic scale is, therefore, found in the music of
various nations, including primitive tribes. Ancient chinese, japanese,
hungarian, swedish, and gypsy music all have traces of mOhanam.
Compositions of all types,
heavy, as well as light, exist in this rAgam. Most composers have contributed
generously to mOhanam. Among the trinity, muttusvAmi dIkSitar has six k.rtis,
and all of them bear the rAga mudra for mOhanam (an easy and captivating
phrase!). The k.rti “gOpikA manOharam” attributed to dIkSitar, has been viewed
as a spurious k.rti. Saint tyAgaraja has 11 compositions, that include the
immortal classic, “nanu paliMpa”. Strangely, we do not have any composition
in mOhanam by shyAma shAstri. PApanAsham shivan’s “kApAli”, mysore
vAsudEvAcariar’s “rA rA rAjIvalOcana” , and aruNAcala kavi’s “En paLLi
koNDIrayya” are some of the popular compositions that depict the grandeur of
mOhanam. There are plenty of tEvAram, and tiruvAcakam songs in this rAgam.
The 16th day rendition of the tiruppAvai verse, “nAyakanAy ninRa
nandagOpan” is sung in mOhanam. The cine world has also contributed large
number of film songs in mOhanam.
mOhanam
was regarded as a property of the maharAjapuram school. Both maharAjapuram
VishvanAtha Iyer, and his son Santhanam excelled in detailed portrayal, and
have carved out exquisite renditions of mOhanam. The k.rti “gOpikA manOharam
bhajEham” (mis)attributed to dIkSitar was often rendered by SantAnam. The
tyAgaraja k.rti, “mOhana rAma”, and the papanAsham shivan song, ‘kApali” were
favorites of Madurai Mani Iyer. AriyakkuDi frequently elaborated the
dIkSitar k.rti “rAjagOpAlam”. M.S. Subbalakshmi used to render “nArAyaNa
divyanAmam” of pApanAsham shivan, often preceded by a beautiful viruttam in
tamil. MLV often rendered “rA rA rAjIvalOcana”, and “En paLLi konTIrayya”.
Balamuralikrishna’s vinyl EP of the earlier days captures the essence of “nanu
pAlimpa”. The varNam, ‘kapAlIshvaram” by ambi dIkSitar, and the muttusvAmi
dIkSitar k.rti, ‘kAdambarIpriyAyai” were popularized by the D. K. Pattammal
and D.K. Jayaraman
AsaMpUrNa scheme
In the asaMpUrNa scheme,
vE”nkaTamakhi places mOhanam as a bhASA”nga janyam of the rAgA”nga rAgam (mELam)
65, shAnta kalyANi.
Definition:
auDavO mOhanO rAgaH sa grahaH
sArvakALikaH
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anubandham
of caturdaNDi prakAshika
lakSaNa details:-
bhASA”ngam; auDavam; madhyama niSAda varjyam; Sadja graham; suitable for
singing at all times. The notes ga, dha, and ri are both the jIva svarams as
well as nyAsa svarams, that add much delight (ra~njakatvam)
Sa”ngIta sampradAya
pradarshini
gives the following compositions in mOhanam:
a lakSyA gItam by
vE”nkaTamakhi, “shrI kaliyuga vE”nkaTEshu rE re” in dhruva rUpaka tALam; the
k.rtis “narasimha Agacca” (mishra jAti Ekam) by muttusvAmi dIkSitar; the
kIrtanam “ramAvarAya ratnavibhUSANa ra~njitAya” in Adi tAlam by lakSmIkAnta
mahArAju; a padam, “inti cakkadana” by kavi mAt.rbhUtayyA; a tAna varNam “sa
ri gA dhA ni” in Adi by gOvindasAmi; another tAna varNam, “ sarasijAkSi” by
vINa kuppayyar, and concludes as usual, with a sa~ncAri by the author
subbarAma dIkSitar..
nanu pAliMpa episode
It is said that when Saint
tyAgaraja’s daughter was getting married, his prime disciple wAlAjApETTai
ve”nkaTaramaNa bhAgavatar walked all the way from his village to tiruvaiyARu
to attend the wedding. He brought with him a life-size picture, depicting
the shrIrAma paTTAbhiSekam to be presented to his guru on this
auspicious occasion. Upon receiving the gift, tyAgarAja was very much moved,
and spontaneously poured out the song "nanu pAlimpa naDacivaccitivO" (Did You
come walking, to protect me). Musicologist, painter, S. Rajam has beautifully
captured this moment, with a brilliant picture of tyAgarAja kneeling down,
holding the portrait that his disciple had brought, with part of shrI rAma's
gigantic body seen in the background!
hindustAni bhUp
HindustAni rag “bhUp”,
or bhUpali (not to be confused with bhUpAla) resemble mOhanam
RAg bhUp is placed under
kalyAN thaTh (mEcakalyANi) and is sung at the first prAhAra of night. It is
very popular in hindusthAni music. Vadi is “ga” and samvadi is “dha”.
Notes “ga” and “pa” are vishrAnti notes. Jugal bandhis featuring
hindusthAni rAg bhUp and karNAtak rAgam mOhanam are very common. Rag dESkAr,
and the less popular jeth kalyAN (jayat kalyAN) resemble mOhanam
Selected Compositions in mOhanam
gItam
vara vINA, rUpakam
lakSya gItam
shrI kaliyuga vE”nkaTEshu rE
re, dhruva rUpakam (vE”nkaTamakhi)
varnam
ninnu kOri, Adi (rAmnaD
shrInivasayya”ngAr)
ninnE kOrinatira, Adi (pallavi
doraisvAmi Iyer)
kapAlIshvaram bhajEham, Adi (ambi
dIkSitar)
sarasijAkSi, aTa (vINa
kuppayyar)
pada varnam
sarigA dAni, Adi (kArvETRa”ngar
gOvindasAmayya)
svarajati
sAmI dayamEra , Adi (?)
k.rti
kAdambarIpriyAyai, mishra cApu
(muttusvAmi dIkSitar)
narasimha Agacca, mishra cApu
(muttusvAmi dIkSitar)
nAgali”ngam namAmi satatam,
Adi (muttusvAmi dIkSitar)
pAhi mAm pArvatI
parameshvarI, rUpakam (muttusvAmi dIkSitar)
rakta gaNapatiM bhajEham, Adi
(muttusvAmi dIkSitar)
rAjagOIpalam bhajEham, rUpakam
(muttusvAmi dIkSitar)
gOpika manOharam bhajEham ,
Adi (mis-attributed to muttusvAmi dIkSitar ?)
endukO baga teliyadu, Adi (tyAgarAja)
nannu pAlimpa, Adi (tyAgarAja)
bhavanuta nA h.rdayamuna, Adi(tyAgarAja)
mATi mATiki delpa, mishra
cApu(tyAgarAja)
mOhana rAmA, Adi (tyAgarAja)
rAma ninunammina varamu, Adi (tyAgarAja)
evarUrA ninnuvinA , mishra
capu (tyAgarAja) – divyanAma kIrttanam
rama rAma ramayani nanta,
mishrta cApu (tyAgarAja) – divyanama kIrttanam
vEdavAkyamani, mishra
cApu(tyAgarAja) – nauka caritram
dayarAni, Adi/khaNDa cApu (tyAgarAja)
– prahLAda bhakti vijayam opera
jaya ma”nhgaLam, khaNDa cApu (tyAgarAja)
– prahLAda bhakti vijayam opera
cintayE shrI padmanAbham,
mishra cApu (svAti tirunAL)
k.rpAkaTAkSam kartuM mayi,
adi (svAti tirunAL)
mOhanaM tava vapurayi, Adi (svAti
tirunAL)
pa”nkajanAbhOtsvAghOSa, misha
cApu (svAti tirunAL) (First day utsava prabandham)
paripahi mAM n.rharE murArE
, mishra capu (svAti tirunAL)
sevE shrI padmanAbhamanisham,
jhampa (svAti tirunAL)
ADInamaTTukkuM nI ADaDA, Adi
(UttukkADu ve”nkaATa kavi)
alaivai pazham udirum shOlai,
Adi (UttukkADu ve”nkaATa kavi)
illai illai illaiyammA, Adi (UttukkADu
ve”nkaATa kavi)
jaganmOhana sundara”nga, Adi
(UttukkADu ve”nkaATa kavi)
nalattanamAy sholli, Adi (UttukkADu
ve”nkaATa kavi)
nIlavaNNa kaNNanukkum, Adi (UttukkADu
ve”nkaATa kavi)
pESha kELIrO e”ngaL piLLai,
Adi (UttukkADu ve”nkaATa kavi)
shamattu kkuTTiyaDi e”ngaL
gOPAlan, Adi (UttukkADu ve”nkaATa kavi)
svAgatam k.rSNA (UttukkADu
ve”nkaTa kavi)
svAmI umakku namaskAram, Adi
(UttukkADu ve”nkaATa kavi)
En paLLl koNDIrayyA, Adi (aruNAcala
kavi)
avatAram seydiDu, Adi (aruNAcala
kavi)
rAmanai ttaruvAy, rUpakam (aruNAcala
kavi)
kApAlI, Adi (pApanAsham shivan)
nArayaAna divyanAmam, Adi (pApanAsham
shivan)
saundarya veLLam kaNDEN, Adi (pApanAsham
shivan)
mayil vahanA, Adi (pApanAsham
shivan)
mOhana sh.r”ngAra, Adi (pApanAsham
shivan)
rA rA rAjIvalocana , Adi (mysore
vAsudeEvAcAriar)
shrIramA ramaNimanOhara, Adi (pallavi
gOpAlay iyer)
shrIpura nivAsini, rUpakam (pallavi
gOpAla iyer)
A~njanEya paripalaya mAM, Adi
(margadarshi shESayya”ngAr)
cEri yashOdaku, Adi (annamAcArya)
bhadrakaLi namOstu tE, adi (muttayyA
bhAgavatar)
manamOhana, aTa (muttayyA
bhagavatar)
vAmadEva mahAnubhAva, Adi (muttayyA
bhagavatar)
sadA pALaya, Adi (G.N.Balasubramaniam)
bhuvanatraya sammOhanakara
shAstAram, Adi (G.N.Balasubramaniam)
kaNDu kaNDu nIyenda, jhampa (purandaradAsa)
mella mellanE bandenE, Adi (purandaradAsa)
maruvaku daya, Adi (garbhapuri
- karUr dakSiNAmUrti shAstri)
pedda dEvuDani, Adi (mysUr
sadAshiva rAo)
arumarundoru tani, rUpakam (muttittANDavar)
sannidhi kaNDu koNDEN, capu (kaviku~njara
bhArati)
ettanai shonnalum shummA ,
cApu (madhurakavi bhArati)
nahi rE nahi sha”nka, Adi (sadashiva
brahmEndra)
tara”ngam
kSEmam kuru gOpAla, mishra
capu (nArAyaNa tIrtha)
pallaki sEvA prabandham
etulA remmanandu, cApu (SahAji
maharAja)
padam
inti cakkadana, Adi (kavi
mAt.rbhUtayyA)
velagadurA, tripuTa (kSEtraj~na)
paradEshamuna, Adi (kSEtraj~na)
gadura gatiyakai, jhampa (kSEtraj~na)
jAvaLi
mOhamella delisenu, rUpakam
(pattAbhirAmayyA)
tillAnA
dhIm dhIm kiTataka, Adi (muttayA
bhAgavatar)
pallavi lines
mOhanam is a popular
candidate for brilliant rAgam tAnam pallavi expositions. I recall an
exquisite pallavi in mOhanam rendered by T.V.Shankaranarayanan in College
Park, Maryland (April 1976), whose sAhityam has many svarAkSrams – “sariga
dhaivamukha dA sadA pada sarOja nera nammiti”.
A dvi tALa pallavi (a
pallavi capable of being rendered in two different tALams) in mOhanam, in the
tALams (I) Adi (tishra gati), and (ii) rUpakam (caturashra jAti), composed by
P. SambamUrti can be found in his book, with notations for both tAlam
renditions. The sAhityam is “ sarasijAkSa nalukora
sArvabhauma”.
Famous rAgamAlika lines
A cute rAgam like mOhanam
has its right place in rAgamAlika segments. Some of the popular rAgamAlika
lines featuring mOhanam are:
“guruguha sammOhanakara
li”ngam viri~nci viSNu rudramUrti mayam” in caturdasha rAgamalika, “shrI
vishvanAtham” (muttusvami dIkSitar) – with the rAga mudra!
“kamalajAsya h.rta
nigamarAshi hayagrIva” – the opening line in the dashAvatAra rAgamalika (svAti
tirunAL)
“vitata daNDakAraNyaka gata
virAda daLanam” in the AraNya kANDAm, rAmAyaNa rAgamalika – bhAvayAmi
raghurAmam (svAti tirunAL)
“yallAvaNyamasheSa gOpagamanI
nEtraika sammOhanam” in the rAgamAlika shlOkam “kalyANI khalu” (svAti
tirunAL)
“Adishakti akhilANDEshvari
nIdu pada sannuta bhaktapOSaNi pArvati muddu mOhanA”ngi”, the seventh segment
of the rAgamalikA “nitya kalyANI” by sItArAmayyA
The famous navarAgamAlika
varNam, “valaci vacci” has mOhanam as one of the component rAgams.
Allied rAgam
MOhana kalyANi
is a combination of
mOhanam (in the ArOhaNam) and kalyANi (in the avarOhaNam), placed under mELam
65.
ArOhaNam:
s r g p d s*
avaraOhaNam: *s
n d p m g r s
It is a pleasing rAgam, that
has recently gained popularity. It is believed to be the creation of muttayyA
bhAgavatar. There are some remarkable compositions in mOhana kalyANi.
Compositions
sEvE shrIkANtam, Adi (svAti
tirunAL)
bhuvanEshvariya, Adi (muttayyA
bhAgavatar)
siddhivinAyakam (muttayyA
bhAgavatar)
shivam v.rSabhArUDham, khaNDa
cApu (muttayyA bhAgavatar)
tAmatam tagAdayyA, Adi (lAlguDi
gOpAla iyer)
tajaNu tIM ta - tillAna, Adi
(lAlguDi jayarAman)
Though
the rAgam mOhana nATa bears a prefix “mOhanam”, it is an entirely
different one. It is a janyam of mELAm 9 dhEnuka (dhunibhinna SaDjam) with the
scale (s g m p d p m p n s*; s* n p d p m g s). The composition, “mOhana
nATAkapriye” by muttusvAmi dIkSitar is in this rAgam.
Some other rAgams with a
mOhana-prefix are: mOhanacandrika (32), mOhanadhvani (29),
mOhanakaishiki (15), mOhanakura~nji (59), mOhanA”ngi ( 34),
mOhanavarALi (20/34), and mOhanavAridhi (15/26). None of these
have any resemblance whatsoever to mOhanam. Perhaps, some day, someone will
render a pallavi in mOhanam, with these rAgams as candidates for the
concluding rAgamAlikA svarams! |
