From: krisna@cs.wisc.edu (Krishna Kunchithapadam)
Newsgroups: rec.music.indian.classical
Subject: lineage of amRtha-varSheNe [was Re: Amrita Vahini ?]
Date: 12 Oct 92 20:39:08 GMT
Article-I.D.: cs.krisna.718922348
Followup-To: rec.music.indian.classical
Organization: U of Wisconsin Madison - Computer Sciences

tmohan@iastate.edu (Thyagarajan Mohan) writes:
>>
>>    I wonder how you can classify Amrithvarshini as the janya of Jaala
>> VaraaLi which has Suddha Gaandhaara(r2 as Gandhaara).Also Amritha-
>> varshani is widely known as janya raga of 65th MaeLa KalyaaNi
>> though it can be formally considered as derived from Chithraambari.
>> I would like to clarify this which is similar to ragas like Mohanam
>> (Janya of 28;can be considered as derived from 29,64 or 65)
>>

Sorry  for  the  confusion,  but  I  should  have  qualified   my
statements better.

The rAga we know as amRtha-varSheNe  is  considered  a  janya  of
cethrAmbare.  However, there is another rAga, with the same name,
that is a janya of JAla-varALe. The lakShaNa for this rAga is:

        srgmpdnpS       Sndpmgrs

It was my mistake in not making this clear in my posting.


Going back to our well-known version of amRtha-varSheNe, the rAga
can  be  derived from any one of 9 maeLa rAgas (3 choices for the
reShaBa and 3 choices for the Dhaivatha).

	       d1            d2               d3
-----------------------------------------------------------------
r1        kAma-varDhene   gamanasrama     veSvAmbare
r2        lathAnge        maeca-kalyANe   cethrAmbare
r3        DhAthu-varDhene kOsalam         rasekapreya
-----------------------------------------------------------------

The reason for choosing cethrAmbare, rather than any of the other
rAgas  is  debatable  --  and  I  am  sure no reason will satisfy
everyone.

My own impression  is  like  this.  The  uththarAnga  of  amRtha-
varSheNe  has  gamakas  that  sound like those used in ShaTsruthe
Dhaivatha rAgas -- or vice versa if that seems a better point  of
view.  Since, there is no trace of the ShaTsruthe reShaBa note in
amRtha-varSheNe, the last three rAgas in the list are  ruled  out
as likely candidates.

The middle row of rAgas have the cathusruthe Dhaivatha as one  of
their  primary  notes.  They  too  are not very likely candidates
(kalyANe included).

That leaves maelas 51, 54, 63 and 66. In  my  opinion,  the  rAga
mandhAre,  which is a janya of kAmavarDhene (and uses the SudhDha
reShaBa in addition to the notes in amRtha-varSheNe) and  amRtha-
varSheNe  sound  quite  alike.  That  makes kAmavarDhene the most
likely janaka rAga for amRtha-varSheNe.

However, any of these choices  can  be  rationalised  if  one  is
willing to make sufficient concessions.

And unfortunately for people who delight  in  classification  and
taxonomy, the rules for deciding janaka-janya relationships is at
best ad-hoc and mostly it becomes a matter  of  prestige,  rather
than  a  scientific  and  rational  decision.  As  long  as  some
responsible and knowledgeable body of musicians and musicologists
does  not  come  forward with a completely unambiguous scheme for
this problem, we will be left with the feeling of dissatisfaction
and incompleteness.



Those interested should see if they can locate my earlier article
to RMIC on a discussion of the janaka-janya mappings of the thOde
and mOhanam clique of rAgas based on  graha-Baedham.  In  it  you
will find a rationale for considering mOhanam a janya of kalyANe.

-- kRShNa
Newsgroups: rec.music.indian.classical