Hindolam and chandrakauns

A Raga is a unique combination of notes sa,ri,ga,ma,pa,da,ni with more variations in ri,ga,ma,da,ni. To understand what a variation means, let us consider two legendary film music compositions - One that of Maestro Isaignani Illayaraja's 'Naan thedum sevandhi poo idhu' and the other of MSVs 'Maalaipozhidin mayakkathile'. Both the song have the same notes - sa,ga,ma,da,ni,sa. However just listen to songs just once before reading further and you will see that they feel totally different. Reason is very simple both are different ragas. I have sung the arohanam (ascending notes) and avarohanam (descending notes) of the two ragas to begin with. 

Former is of Raga 'Hindolam' my favourite and the latter is 'Chandrakauns'. Interestingly both the ragas just differ in the single note 'ni'. So generally Hindolam is given the notes - S G2 M1 D1 N2 S and Chandrakauns - S G2 M1 D1 N3 S.  So the wisdom behind composing a song in Hindolam or Chandrakauns should strictly hit on the note 'N3' to uniquely identify the ragas. Now you can imagine the skills of composers of the music in a raga. One of the gems from Saint Sri. Annamayya delivered by Priya Sisters is here for the appreciation of the raga Hindolam. If you feel that its too 'carnaticish', listen to this beauty from A.R.Rahman 'Margazhi Poove' which is again the raga Hindolam. Listening to songs in Hindolam generally brightens my day and hope it brightened yours too. Yet another master piece in Hindolam from the legends "M S Viswanathan and Ramamurthi" - "Maname muruganin mayil vahanam" from the movie Motor sundaram pillai

Now lets dive to the other raga 'Chandrakauns'.  I personally haven't been fortunate enough till now to learn a carnatic song in 'Chandrakauns'. Lets listen a classic from the Maestro "Azhagu malar aada". In the first few seconds you can clearly hear the notes 'S G2 M1 D1 N2 S' where the Maestro stamps it with the signature of the raga Chandrakauns. Hearing Chandrakauns cures heart diseases.  Hear this beauty from the sisters "Rajani-Gayatri" delivering a Abhang . 

Quotes from my husband:
I love the song "Unnal mudium thambi thambi" which is also in the raga Hindolam. SPBs rendering of the swarams towards the end of the song helped me differentiate Hindolam better. Hats-off to the Maestro!

Mohanam

Sri. N. Vijay Siva, an eminent carnatic singer once said " “Never try to promote music. Serve it and it will promote you”.  Those very words have bolstered in me a strong motivation to serve music and hence the blog. My sincere thanks to my parents Mrs. Jayanthi Sriram and Mr. K. Sriram for sowing the seeds of 'wisdom of music' since my early age of 3. I would also like to thank my teachers Smt. Geetha (from Chennai), Smt. Akila Siva mother of Sri.N. Vijay Siva, Sri. Koviladi Rengarajan & Sri. Madhvaprasad (Srirangam) and my present teacher Smt. Shobha Shekar (Kalakruthi school of carnatic music and Veena, Melbourne) for lighting my way on my journey towards His kingdom of music. Special thanks my husband Anand and my daughter Amrita who have been really supportive for me to continue with this wonderful journey of music.

For a common man to understand carnatic music let me begin from the compositions of Maestro Isaignani Illayaraja whose compositions has reached every corner of the Indian society.  Each and every composition of him would bring out the essence of the 'Raga' the song is based on. A Raga in simple terms is a unique combination of any of the notes sa ri ga ma pa da ni.  There are more variations of notes ri,ga,ma,da but lets not get there now as too much theory generally makes my husband fall asleep.  Lets dive straight into Raga Mohanam and learn to appreciate the songs based on the raga mohanam the next time we listen to it. 

"Ninu kori varnam" song from the movie 'Agni nakshatram' is based on the raga Mohanam. This is a striking example of the Masetro's composition with strong roots in carnatic fundamentals. "Ninu kori" is a 'Varnam' that you will learn when you begin your journey of carnatic music. A 'Varnam' is a mini song based on a Raga. Generally you can find the raga of any song by listening the first few notes of a song. This is called "Alaapana" in carnatic world. 'Alapana' in simple terms is an introduction of the Raga.  'Mohana rama' song sung by Maharajapuram Santham in the raga Mohana is a must to listen to appreciate and understand the essence of the raga Mohanam. For the lovers of A.R.Rehman, the song 'Omana pennae' from the movie 'Vinnai thandi varuvai' is an excellent composition based on the Raga Mohanam. I have sung a medley involving the carnatic varnam and the other two songs just to make the readers understand the essence of the Raga.

Quotes from my husband:

"I remember the day (I was 9 years old then) when the legend Maharajapuram Santham passed away due to a tragic accident when I was playing cricket with my friends on the road. I didn't feel a thing then.  But after listening to the song 'Mohana rama' after 23 years I did shed a drop of tear for the legend from my heart."