Shree (Carnatic raga)
Shri ragam is an ancient ragam in the Carnatic tradition. It is also written as Sri or Shree.[1] This scale does not have all the seven swaras (musical notes) in the ascending scale.[1] Shree is the asampurna melakartha equivalent of Kharaharapriya, the 22nd Melakarta rāgam.[1][2] It is the last of the 5 Ghana rāgams of Carnatic music.[1] It is a popular rāgam that is considered to be highly auspicious.[2]
Arohanam | S R₂ M₁ P N₂ Ṡ |
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Avarohanam | Ṡ N₂ P M₁ R₂ G₂ R₂ S |
Carnatic music |
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Concepts |
Compositions |
Instruments |
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Notably, Carnatic Shree takes the lower madhyamam being the asampurna scale equivalent of Kharaharapriya. It is not related to the Hindustani raga, Shree.
Structure and Lakshana
![](../I/Madhyamavati_scale.svg.png.webp)
![](../I/Kharaharapriya_scale.svg.png.webp)
Shree is an asymmetric rāgam that does not contain gāndhāram or dhaivatam in the ascending scale. It is a audava-vakra-sampurna rāgam (or owdava, meaning pentatonic in ascending scale),[1] where vakra indicates the zig-zag nature of jumping notes in descending scale. Its ārohaṇa-avarohaṇa structure (ascending and descending scale) is as follows (see swaras in Carnatic music for details on below notation and terms):
- ārohaṇa: S R₂ M₁ P N₂ Ṡ[lower-alpha 1]
- avarohaṇa: Ṡ N₂ P M₁ R₂ G₂ R₂ S[lower-alpha 2] (or) Ṡ N₂ P D₂ N₂ P M₁ R₂ G₂ R₂ S[lower-alpha 3]
This scale uses the notes chatushruti rishabham, sadharana gandharam, shuddha madhyamam, panchamam, chatushruti dhaivatam and kaisiki nishadam.
Popular compositions
Shree rāgam has been decorated with compositions by many composers. A few of the popular kritis are listed here.
- The fifth Pancharatna Kriti Endaro mahanubhavulu composed by Tyagaraja in Telugu, the last of the 5 gems
- Sami ninnekori, a Varnam by Karur Devudu Iyer in Telugu
- Nama kumusumamula by Tyagaraja in Telugu
- Yuktamu gAdu by Tyagaraja in Telugu
- Sri Varalakshmi, Sri Muladhara chakra vinayaka , Sri Kamalambike and Sri vishvanatham bhaje by Muthuswami Dikshitar in Sanskrit
- Bhavayami Nanda and Reena Madadritha by Swathi Thirunal
- Karuna Cheyvan Enthu by Irayimman Thampi
- Karuna judu ninnu by Shyama Shastri in Telugu
- Mangalam arul by Papanasam Sivan in Tamil
- Vande Vasudevam by Annamacharya in Sanskrit
- Mayanai part of the Thiruppavai by Andal
- Vanajasana Vinuta composed by Subbaraya Shastri in Telugu
- Bhagyada Lakshmi Baramma by Purandara Dasa
Film Songs
Language:Tamil
Related rāgams
This section covers the theoretical and scientific aspect of this rāgam.
Scale similarities
- Madhyamavati is a rāgam which has a symmetric ascending and descending scale, which matches the ascending scale of Shree. Its ārohaṇa-avarohaṇa structure is S R2 M1 P N2 S : S N2 P M1 R2 S
- Manirangu is a rāgam which has gāndhāram in the descending scale, while all other notes in both the ascending and descending scale are same as Madhyamavati. Its ārohaṇa-avarohaṇa structure is S R2 M1 P N2 S : S N2 P M1 G2 R2 S
Notes
- Alternate notations:
- Hindustani: S R M P Ṉ Ṡ
- Western: C D F G B♭ C
- Alternate notations:
- Hindustani: Ṡ Ṉ P M R G̱ R S
- Western: C B♭ G F D E♭ D C
- Alternate notations:
- Hindustani: Ṡ Ṉ P D Ṉ P M R G̱ R S
- Western: C B♭ G A B♭ G F D E♭ D C
References
- Ragas in Carnatic music by Dr. S. Bhagyalekshmy, Pub. 1990, CBH Publications
- Raganidhi by P. Subba Rao, Pub. 1964, The Music Academy of Madras