Sahana (raga)

Sahana (pronounced sahānā) is a popular rāgam (musical scale) in Carnatic music. It is a janya rāgam (derived scale) associated with the 28th Melakarta rāgam Harikambhoji.

Sahana
ArohanamS R₂ G₃ M₁ P M₁ D₂ N₂ Ṡ
AvarohanamṠ N₂ D₂ P M₁ G₃ M₁ R₂ G₃ R₂ S

Carnatic music
Tanjavur-style Tambura
Concepts
Compositions
Instruments
Melody
Sarasvati Vīṇā
Veṇu
Nādasvaraṃ
Goṭṭuvādyaṃ (Citra Vīṇā)
Violin
Percussion
Mr̥daṅgaṃ
Ghaṭaṃ
Morsing
Kanjira
Thavil
Drone
Tambura
Shruti box

The Hindustani music ragam Sahana is an upper-tetrachord-dominant Kanada-anga raga, from the Kafi thaat, also allied with Bageshree and Bhimpalasi. The shuddha Dhaivat is an important rest note (nyaas swara).

Structure and Lakshana

It is a Ubhaya Vakra sampoorna ragam. Vakra means crooked. Ubhaya Vakra means that the notes in both ascent and descent follow a zig zag pattern. The notes in ascending and descending scale do not follow a strict progression. Hence the note phrases contain such vakra phrases, lending a unique beauty to this rāgam. Though it is a sampoorna rāgam (contains all 7 notes), the vakra scale means it is not considered a melakarta, as melakarta rāgams must have strictly ascending and descending scales. It is also classified as a rakti raga (raga with high melodic content).

Its ārohaṇa-avarohaṇa 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 are Shadjam, Chathusruthi Rishabham, Antara Gandharam, Suddha Madhyamam, Panchamam, Chathusruthi Dhaivatham and Kaisiki Nishadham.

Its characteristic phrases are (R2 G3 M1 P),(P M1 D2 N2), (N2 S D2), (G3 M1 R2). Sahana has a distinct mood due to these phrases and characteristic gamakams and is rarely confused with other ragams.

Sahana has a close relationship to Malavi and to some extent Dwijawanthi/Jujavanti. While the use of Anthara Gaandharam in R2 G2 R2 makes it different from Dwijawanthi, since Dwijawanthi uses Saadharana Gaandharam, sahana has a closer relationship with Malavi which has an identical Vakra scale formation as Sahana.

Select compositions

There are a large number of popular songs composed in this rāgam in Carnatic Music as well as Tamil Film Music. Here are some Carnatic music compositions.

In television Series

Language:Tamil
  • "Indha Veenaiku Theriyadhu" by V.S. Narasimhan (Rail Sneham - TV Serial)

Film Songs

Language:Tamil
Song Movie Composer Singer
Pathiniye Unpol Itharaimeethinil Kannagi S. V. Venkataraman P. U. Chinnappa
Thamiyen Painthamizh Sivakavi Papanasam Sivan, G. Ramanathan MKT
Paarthen Sirithen Veera Abhimanyu K. V. Mahadevan P.B. Sreenivas, P. Susheela
Ennamellam Thirumanam S. M. Subbaiah Naidu T. M. Soundararajan
Nee Engey En Mannippu P. Susheela
Engo pirandavaram Bommai S. Balachandar
Aadhi nathan ketkindran Ganga Gowri M.S. Viswanathan T. M. Soundararajan, S. Janaki
Azhage Sugama (Dwijavanthi mixed) Parthale Paravasam A. R. Rahman Srinivas, Sadhana Sargam
Rukku Rukku Avvai Shanmughi Deva Kamal Haasan, Sujatha
Poothene Eera Nilam Sirpy Chinmayi

Notes
  1. Alternate notations:
    • Hindustani: S R G M P M D Ṉ Ṡ
    • Western: C D E F G F A B♭ C
  2. Alternate notations:
    • Hindustani: Ṡ Ṉ D P M G M R G R S
    • Western: C B♭ A G F E F D E D C
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