Raga Shivranjani is a very melodious raga and is sung during late evenings. As the name suggests, this raga is used to compose tunes to please the fearsome Lord of destruction, Shiva. This raga is extremely popular among instrumentalists. This raga is known to evoke the moods of romance and sorrow. Aroha and avaroha notes of the raga Shivranjani are very close to raga Bhoopali except that in raga Bhoopali, the GA note is shudha whereas in raga Shivranjani, the GA note is komal which is represented as lower case ga. Also vaadi and samvaadi notes are different in raga Shivranjani compared to raga Bhoopali. These differences set apart raga Shivaranjani from raga Bhoopali. Obviously, both ragassound totally different. Sometimes liberty is taken with raga Shivranjani and shudha Gandhar (Ga) may be used by some musicians. Raga Shivranjani is originally from South Indian Classical music later adapted in Hindustani Classical music. As per one expert vocalist in South Indian Classical music, the original Classical raga Shivranjani is a janya of Vachaspati, the 64th melakarta, which is different from the raga Shivranjani of Hindustani Classical music. But lately, in South Indian Classical music, this raga is being sung in a similar way as in Hindustani Classical music. In reality, raga Shivapriya or Shankarapriya of South Indian Classical music closely resembles with Hindustani Classical raga Shivranjani. There is a composition in this raga with the lyrics “Va velava” by late Dr. S. Ramanathan. Please refer to my earlier article, Flute: Raga Bhoopali (Mohanam), which you can read to do the comparison with raga Shivranjani. Aroha and Avaroha notes and other attributes of raga Shivranjani as per Hindustani Classical Music are as follows: Aroha: SA RE ga PA DH SA Avaroha : SA DH PA ga RE SA (Note that raga Shivranjani has all shudh swaras both in aroha and avaroha except komal note ga. Hence all notes in aroha and avaroha except komal note ga have been shown in upper case. SA in bold letter indicates the note from Tar Saptak (third octave). SA with normal letters is from Madhya Saptak (middle octave). Raga Shivranjani belongs to Kaafi Thata. Thata is the parent scale of a given raga from which it is derived. Jaati: Odav-Odav (A pentatonic scale meaning 5 notes each in Aroha and Avaroha , excluding one of the SAs) Vaadi: PA Samvaadi: SA Varjya Swara: MA, ma, NI and ni In any raga, Vaadi is the most important note and Samvaadi is the second most important note. Every raga has its own rules for Vaadi and Samvaadi. Vaadi is the most dominating note in any given raga that is frequently used in the rendition of a given raga. Pakkad or bandishi are the most dominating notes of a given raga . Each raga has its own bandishi. Whenever a Music Director composes a song based upon a given raga, he makes sure that he uses the bandishi of that raga. This is the precise reason why two songs composed on the same raga sound similar. In a way, bandishi is a common factor within all the tunes composed on a given raga . While rendering a raga, one should be vary careful of not using varjya swara. Varjya swara in a raga are the notes, those are strictly excluded in rendition. Varjya swara is the enemy of the raga. If a varjya swara is accidentally used during rendition of a particular raga, it will spoil the atmosphere that a particular raga is supposed to create. So great artists do a lot of practice of a given raga so that they will never make the mistake of using varjya swara. Along with this article, I have attached 2 audio files. In first audio file, I have played on the flute the song “Mere naina sawan bhado” from the Hindi film: Mehabooba (1976), which is based on raga Shivranjani. This song had 2 versions. One was sung by Kishore Kumar and the other one was sung by Lata Mangeshkar. Kishores version became more popular than Latas version. Actually, I should point out here that as far as I remember, this is the only semi-classical song sung by Kishore Kumar in his entire singing career. Since Kishore was going to sing a semi-classical Hindi song for the first time, Music Director R. D. Burman had to do lots of rehearsals with Kishore. And after several days of rehearsals, the song was recorded. We all know that Kishore Kumar sang this song brilliantly. I wonder why other Music Directors (including R. D. Burman) did not attempt to compose semi-classical songs for Kishore after Mere Naina. In my second audio file, I composed my own tune based on raga Shivranjani and played it on my synthesizer. If you listen carefully to my second audio file played on the synthesizer, you will see that I have used the bandishi of raga Shivranjani. Now the bandishi of this tune is the same as the bandishi of the famous Hindi semi-classical song Jane kahan gaye vo din from Film Mera Naam Joker (1970) which in my opinion is the best composition ever in Hindi film songs based on raga Shivranjani. But note that my rendition on the synthesizer is entirely my own composition. This is my first humble effort to compose and play a tune based upon a raga . I just sat next to my synthesizer and played the notes of raga Shivranjani in about 10 minutes time, which followed my mood at that time. You will also see that in this synthesizer tune, in between I have played 2 violin pieces of intermediate music of the song Jane kahan gaye vo din at a fast tempo. I played this piece twice and then after fusing this piece with my composition I quickly returned back to my original composition. This is just to show how you can blend two different compositions based on the same raga, which in this case is raga Shivranjani. Actually, to understand the bandishi of any raga, it is better to listen and grasp the instrumental classical music played on a musical instrument. Since musical instruments do not utter words, the listener can concentrate and grasp the raga very accurately after repeatedly listening to the notes of the tune. Of course, if you are very well versed in classical music, then you can easily recognize a raga with ease even if you are listening to a vocal piece. Also, in order to grasp any given raga, one should listen to the same raga presented by different artists. I have another experience, which I would like to share with the readers. If you listen to a vocal song based on a raga, say on radio or a cassette player, and you want to identify the raga of this song, then you should listen to it while you are farther away, say about 30 to 50 feet away from the player. I have experienced that I could recognize the raga of a song while listening to it from a farther distance rather than by listening to it closer. This is because as you go farther from the source of vocal sound, you do not listen to any words from the song, but you only hear the dominating notes or bandishi of the song. Once you hear the bandishi, you can easily recognize the raga of the song. Of course, one has to have prior knowledge of ragas before attempting to recognize it using this technique. I verified this fact with my friends who are classical buffs and they had similar experiences. Also note that within any raga or a melody there is a definite relationship among the notes. A song based on a given raga can be composed in any one of 3 octaves. This sometimes makes it difficult to identify the raga of the song, although the progression of notes follows the same rules of raga in any octave. Personally, raga Shivranjani is one of my most favorite ragas. In the temple, I like to sing bhajans, which are based on raga Shivranjani. Recently, I changed the raga of an existing Shirdi Sai bhajan: “Sai teri yaad maha sukhadayi” and composed it using raga Shivranjani and using the same lyrics. Every time I sing this bhajan or any other bhajan based on raga Shivaranjani, a chill passes through my spine. And this is a fact. In my flute recordings in audio file 1, I was accompanied on the Tabla by my friend, Mr. Ramnath Paranandi. Since both tunes in my two audio files are based on the same raga Shivranjani, both tunes have the same bandishi. So by listening to both the tunes a few times, you can easily see that both the tunes sound similar. This will help you to grasp the bandishi of raga Shivranajni. Once you memorize the bandishi of raga Shivranjani, you will be able to identify the raga of another tune that is based on raga Shivranjani. This is the reason why I have attached two audio files along with this article. For Audio File 1 (Song Mere naina played by me on oblique flute): Analysis on musical notations of song Mere Naina: (based on Black 1 of Madhya Saptak as SA. So the following musical notations are based on this SA. Note that Madhya Saptak is also called as the middle or second octave). Note that in the following notations, highlighted notes are from Tar Saptak or the third octave and all other notes with normal letters are from Madhya Saptak or second (middle) octave. Upper case notes represent Shudh swaras and lower case notes represent komal swaras. For example, Upper case “RE” represents a shudh “RE” and lower case “ga” represents komal “ga”. Actually, you can use the following notes and play the song on any instrument. This is so because for any musical instrument or vocal piece, the musical notations will be the same. Also note that the notes within the vertical bars below form the subset notes of bandishi of raga Shivranjani. I am giving these notations below so as to make the reader understand what exactly bandishi means. Just to explain bandishi further, if you are familiar with Hindi songs then you will notice That the words “anjaana” in the song “Tere mere beechame, kaisa hain ye bandhan anjaana” (Film: Ek duje ke liye), “gaye vo” in the song “Jane kahan gaye vo din” and “samay ki” in the song “Mere naina” stanza “beete samay ki rekha” have the same exact notes or have the same subset of notes from bandishi of raga Shivranjani. |Me re e e | nai na | sa aa wa na | bha do vo | |PA DHA SA DH | SA DH | RE SA DH PA | PA DH PA | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Phir bhi | mera | man | pyaa sa | aa aa | |PA DH | PA | ga | RE ga | RE SA | |Phi ra bhi me| ra aa aa aa aa | ma na | pyaa aa sa | |SA RE ga PA| DH PA ga DH PA | ga RE | ga RE SA| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ In the above composition you will notice that there is not a single violation of raga Shivranjani. In other words, the composition of notes above is based on raga Shivranjani in its purest form. Also note that I have accurately given above the alaap or extended notes wherever applicable. Just to give an example: “Mere” is shown above as “Me re e e”. Here “e e “ are alaap or extended notes. Also, later you will see alaap notes “aa aa”. This representation matches the way the song is sung with alaap. For Audio File 2 (raga Shivranjani tune composed and played by me on synthesizer): Analysis on musical notations of Shivranjani tune on Synthesizer: (based on Black 5 of Mandra Saptak or first octave as SA. So the following notations are based on this SA ): In this tune composed by me, I played the tune so as to cover the range from Madhya Saptak (second or middle octave) to Tar Saptak (third octave). In this tune, I have repeatedly played a musical pattern of 4 segments of 6 notes each, which are as follows: |SA RE ga PA ga RE | ga PA DH SA DH PA | PA DH SA RE SA DH | |DH SA RE ga RE SA| in Aroha. Then in this tune, I have played a pattern of 6 segments of 3 notes each which are as follows: SA RE ga | RE ga PA | ga PA DH | PA DH SA | DH SA RE | SA RE ga| in Aroha and played back the same pattern in reverse in Avaroha . Then in this tune, I have hit the same note three times in Aroha and Avaroha for 8 notes which are follows: SA RE ga PA DH SA RE ga in Aroha ga RE SA DH PA ga RE SA in Avaroha Then in between my tune, I have fused two violin pieces from the Film song “Jane kahan gaye vo din” twice whose notes are as follows: First violin piece: | SA RE ga RE SA | ga | RE SA | RE PA RE | Second violin piece: | PA DH ni DH PA | ni DH PA | DH SA | In the 1st violin piece above, all the notes match the raga Shivranjani notes. But in the 2nd violin piece, you will notice that raga Shivranjani has been violated, because within this second piece komal “ni” has been used. But also note that this komal “ni” (which is the violated note) brings immense beauty for the listening pleasure. This usage of komal “ni” was done deliberately by the great Shankar-Jaikishen. And herein lies the brilliance of the Music Director Duo, the great Shankar-Jaikishen (SJ) which made “Jane kahan gaye vo din” the most popular song based on raga Shivranjani. What a composition by Great SJ! Note that it requires a great amount of expertise to use a different note in a given raga other than stipulated in Aroha and Avaroha of that particular raga . If this different note is not used judiciously then it will sound “besur” or “abaswaram”. Sometimes when a different note (other than stipulated for the raga ) is used in a given raga , then the composition is called a misra raga . So in the above notations for audio file 2, except for komal “ni” all other patterns of swaras strictly follow the notes of raga Shivranjani. Lyrics of the song Mere naina sawan bhado: Film: Mehabooba Year: 1976 Music Director: R. D. Burman Lyricist: Anand Bakshi Singer: Kishore Kumar Singer in another version: Lata Mangeshkar Lyrics of the Kishore Kumar version: Mere naina sawan bhado, phir bhi mera man pyaasa Phir bhi mera man pyaasa Ai dil diwane, khel ye kya jaane Dard bhara ye, geet kahan se In hoton pe aaye, dur kahin le jaaye Bhool gaya kya, bhool ke bhi hain Mujhko yaad zarasa, phir bhi mera man pyaasa Mere naina…….. Baat purani hain, ek kahani hain Ab sochu tumhe, yaad nahin hain Ab sochu nahin bhule, vo sawan ke jhoole Ritu aaye ritu, jaaye dekhe Jhootha ek dilasa, phir bhi mera man pyaasa Mere naina……… Barason beet gaye, hamko mile bichade Bijuri bankar, gagan pe chamke Beete samay ki rekha, maine tumko dekha Man sang aankh michouli khele Asha aur nirasha, phir bhi mera man pyaasa Mere naina… Approximate meaning of lyrics: My eyes are full of tears like raindrops, yet my mind is still thirsty (for love). This insane heart will not know what game is being played. This song which is full of sadness, appears on my lips and takes me to a far away place. Although I have forgotten everything, but I still remember few things. My mind is still thirsty (for love). The story is old. I am trying to remember you. I still cannot forget the swing of “sawan” (The monsoon season). The seasons come and go while leaving behind false comfort. My mind is still thirsty (for love). Many years have passed since we left each other. In the sky, I can see the lightning as the streak of time and I saw you in that lightning. Hope and despair play the game of hide and seek with my mind. My mind is still thirsty (for love). Hindi Film Songs based on raga Shivranjani: Mere Naina (Film: Mehabooba) Jane kahan gaye vo din (Film: Mera Naam Joker) Lage na mora jiya (Film: Ghunghat) Awaaz deke hamen tum bulavo (Film: Professor) Baharon phool barasavo (Film: Suraj) Rim Jhim ke geet savan gaaye (Film: Anjaana) O mere sanam (Film: Sangam) Dil ke zarokhemen (Film: Brahmachari) Tere mere beech me (Film: Ek Duje Ke Liye) Kahin deep jale kahin dil (Film: Bees Saal Baad) Piya milan ki aas (Film: Piya Milan Ki Aas) Mujhe kuch kehna hain (Film: Mujhe Kuch Kehna Hain) Dhak dhak karne laga (Film: Beta) Khabar meri na lini (Film: Sant Gyaneshwar) South Indian Film Songs based on raga Shivranjani: Avaloru menagai (Film: Nakshathiram) Enenna paada padutharan (Film: Andan adimai, Music: Illayaraaja) Idaya veenai thoongumpodu (Film: Iruvar ulam) Kannum kannum kollai adithal (Film: Thiruda Thiruda) Naan paadum mouna raga m (Film: Idhaya Koil) Svappana vaazvil (Film: Sivakavi) Shivranjani (Film: Shivranjani) Unnai thane (Film: Nallavanuku Nallavan) Nambinen ayyaa (Non-Film song composed by Suddhaananda Bhaarti)
Posted on: Fri, 25 Oct 2013 12:01:53 +0000
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