following the big 6:

here are what i would call the shadow 6 ragams. These are closely allied ragams to the big 6 and are essentially and potentially as heavy as the big 6 but less handled.


danyAsi
mukhAri
yadukula kAmbhOji
bilahari
sArangA
srI rAgam

danyAsi - dalacina vAru
mukhAri - Ema ninnE
yadukula kAmbhOji - divAkara tanujam
bilahari - kAmAkshI varalakshmI
sArangA - Ehi tri jagadIshA
srI rAgam - vanajAsana, tyAgarAja mahA dvajArOhaNa

Keep it going

Danyasi - Meenalochana Brova - Syama Shastri (Amrutha Venkatesh)
Muhari - Karu Baru - Thyagaraja (Ramnad Krishnan)
Y Kambodi - Diwakara Tanujam - MD (TNS/MDR)
Bilahari - Paritanamicchite - Patnam - Pantula Rama
Sarang - Neevada Nekana - Thyagaja (Ramnad Krishnan)
Shree - As in preious thread - Karunajuda - Syama Shastri (Pantula Rama)

Who is the composer of Dalacina Varu?

dalacina vAru is a composition of Subbaraya Sastri

My favorites:

dhanyAsi - nI inda mAyam [varNam], nenanunchi [varNam], dhyAnamE varamaina, nI Cittamu niSCalamu, paradEvatA brhatkuCAmbA, mAyUra nAtham anisham, mInalOCana, bAlakrishNan pAda malar, Ravikiran's tillAnA which is a gem, nirAmaya purAdana. If I had to pick just one: paradEvatA

mukhAri: kAru bAru, ElAvatAra, muripemu, pAhi mAm ratnACala, siva kAma sundari, EmaninE. I haven't yet met a mukhAri that I did not love. If I had to pick just one: I could not do it. ElAvatAra and kAru bAru both, please.

yadukula kAmbhOji: nIdayaCE, ninnu sEvinCina, tyAgarAjam bhajEham, divAkara tanujam, adi kAdu bhajana, EtAvuNa nErCitivO, kAlai tUkki, kumarantAL paNindE tudi. If I had to pick just one: tyAgarAjam bhajEham.

bilahari: dorakunA, hATakEshvara, shri bAlasubrahmaNya Agaccha, kAmAkshi varalakshmi, smara sadA mAnasa. If I had to pick just one: dorakunA.

sArangA: shri kAmAkshi, tyAgarAjE krityAkrityam, nIvADanEgAna, aruNACala nAtham. If I had to pick just one: shri kAmAkshi of Annasvami Sastri.

srI rAgam: tyAgarAja mahadhvajArOha, nAmakusumamulaCE, karuNa CeivAn endu tAmasam. If I had to pick one: tyAgarAja mahadhvajArOha.

(Looks like the Rasikas' Six is set to rival Enid Blyton's Famous Five!)

dhanyAsi: sangIta jnAnamu
SrI: SrI varalakshmi
mukhAri: enraiku siva kripai, entanI nE
Y.kAmbOdhi: Sri rAma raghurAma
bilahari: narasimha, toli janmamuna
sAranga: enta bhAgyamu, nIvADa nE gAna

dhanyAsi: ramadayajootave (DKJ)
Sri: karunachevanendu tAmasam by Iraiyamman thambi
the same is sung in yadukulakambodhi also
mukhari:ksheenamai (ss)
bilahari: sri madurapuri ,mAmayura
sAranga:varadarajam upAsmahe

1. dhanyAsi - paradhEvathA - Adhi - dhIkshithar

Heard this sung by vijay siva in academy [95 or 96, not during season] and the neraval lines entered my soul, I think. I played a thani in the concert of malladi bros. at academy. Got a prize for that too.

2. mukhAri - entha ninnE - rUpaka chApu and kAru bAru - Adhi - thyAgarAja .

[almost all the krithis in this rAga are my favourite..] Especially, kAru bAru... when I heard UKS sir playing for that in parthasarathy swami sabha, for Hyd. bros.

3. yadhukula kAmbhOji - lalithE mAmpAhi - rUpaka chApu - seyyUr sAsthri
hecharika gA rA rA -kaNda chApu lower tempo - thyAgarAja and dhivAkara thanujam [irrespective of who is singing] - chathusra Ekam - dhIkhsithar

4. bilahari - nAjIvAdhAra - Adhi - thyAgarAja and smarasadhA mAnasa Adhi - svAthi thirunAL

5. sArangA - nI vAda nEgAna - kaNda chApu - thyAgarAja and aruNAchala nAtham- rUpaka chApu - dhIkhsithar

6. srhI rAgam - shrI mUlAdhAra chakra vinAyakA - Adhi and shrI varalakshmi - rUpaka chApu - dhIkshithar.

A concert of KVN mama got cancelled and TVG sir sang mUlAdhAra at NCA. That day he sang five krithis on vinAyaka in the begining and he sang the anu manthra panchamam too in his sanchAram. Main was abhimAnamu lEdhA in hamIr kalyANi.

in general, if you listen to a vidhvAn teaching any krithi to a student who is also a jnAnasthA, you can't prevent yourself from liking it, which is applicable to layam too.

That is a very nice thought, Sri Nagaraj!

[:)] thank you...

In bilahari I've heard intakannanandamemi, paridanamiccite and naa jeevaadhaara. I like the first two a little more. Oh yes, I've heard one Swati Tirunal composition also.

In others I have heard at best one or two I think. I don't like Sri particularly, and I think replacing it with Anandabhairavi or reetigowlai will be good. Or just keep mukhari for khpriya also!

Oh yeah, for YK I think Shyama's svarajati totally rules.

I have not warmed up to the YK swarajathi ( I am definitely on board on the other two ). My main issue is I do not see a whole lot of YK there that I see in other YK compositions. What am I missing or people like it for other reasons like the way it is constructed etc. ( which I agree is quite nice, like the other SS swarajathis ).

Bharat,

Did your shadow 6 meant to be followers for the big 6?

Somehow, I can't think of bilahari as a follower of SankarAbharaNa - IMO bEgaDe fits the bill
And similarly Saranga too - a much minor rAga compared to Kalyani.

-Ramakriya

srI rAgam: vandE vasudEvam, endarO, Adi varAhana, mAyanai mannu, nAma kusumamula, vanajAsana, karuNajUDu, .............
dhanyAsi: shyAmasundarAnga, dEva dEvam (DKJ Version), nI dayalEdani, mIna lOchanA, bAlakRSNan pAdamalar, rAmA dayajUDavE (DKJ), dyAnamE varamaina (KVN)
mukhAri: kSINamai (SSI), brahma kaDigina, entaninnE, kArubAru, Ema ninnE
yadukula kAmbhOji: SrIrAma jayarAma (KVN), pAhi rAmachandra (MSI), amba kAmAkSi (MSS)
bilahari: tolijanma (ARI/DKJ), dorakunA (DrSR), narasimhA nanu brOvavE,
sArangA: karuNajUDavayya (DrSR), mAmava raghurAmA, rAmA ninnE nammitini, varadarAjamupasmahE, ODanu jaripE (MKS), enta bhAgyamU (MMI)

I can keep adding but I will stop.

Dhanyasi - Meenalochana
Mukhari - Muripemu (by Nedunuri) or Kaaru Baaru (Ramnad Krishnan)
Y. Kambodhi - Hecharigagara (TNS)
Bilahari - Ekadantam/Shri Balasubramanya
Saaranga - Ehitri Jagadisha
Shri - Shri Varalakshmi (TNS's rendition, esp. the way he handles the PDNPM sanchara given how extensively MD explored it in the krithi)

I share VK's view on the swarajathi - somehow I don't think a ragam like YK is suitable for varnam/swarajathi format - esp the characteristic DSDS,N~D (??) cannot be fit into the tightly packed structure.

Following Ramakriya's cues on alternatives, I'd replace Shri with Madhyamavathi and Saaranga with Purvikalyani. It is a tough callb/w Bilahari and Begada...but in fact I think I will go for Mohanam! FWIW, my favourites in these ragas:

Madhyamavathi - Several favourites esp smaller songs like Karpagame, Nagumomu and Nadupai. Deekshitar gives a very diff flavour in Dharmasamvardhini but the biggies really are Palinchu Kamakshi and Ramakatha - if pressed I'll go for the latter

Purvikalyani - Meenakshi is unsurpassable but I also like Gnanamosagarada and esp Ninnu Vina Gamari. In fact over the last few days that we have been discussing ragas I am realizing what a huge fan of Syama Shastri I am. Almost every one of his compositions is among my favourites - and there are so few compositions that have survived...

Mohanam - Several Thyagaraja compositions who rules in this raga. Also Sivan's Karpagame and Deekshitar's Kadambari Priyayai although I feel MD has given a lightish feel to this song. Nannu Palimpa will remain my favourite however.

danyAsi: 1. Pada Varnam of Papanasam Sivan 2. SangIta GnAnamu
mukhAri : Ksheenamai (MDR); Brahma Kadikina (BMK; light, unusual, excellent)
yadukula kAmbhOji : DiwAkara Tanujam (MDR)
bilahari: Sri BAlasubramanyAya (MDR)
sArangA: NIvAda nE GAna
srI rAgam : SrI KamalAmbike

dhanyAsi: Everything, really. Especially shyAma sundarAnga (MDR- the ultimate dhanyAsi).
mukhAri: endraikku siva krupai varumO (Sikkil Gurucharan)
yadukula kAmbOji: mOhanamayi (MDR), and diwakara thanujam as well (anybody)
bilahari: nA jIvadhAra (TNK, LGJ), srI chAmundEshwari (KVN) comes close
sAranga: aruNAchala nAtham (Sanjay)
srI: nAma kusumamula (MDR)

Interesting that aside from sAranga, MDR seems to have loved this set of rAgAs!

Bilahari is the most elaborately explored of all these. Naajeevadhara and Dorakuna. Kamakshi srivaralakshmi, Hatakeswara, Sribalasubrahmanya. Sri Chamundeswari. Any number of big songs, plus swati tirunal, and many many small songs. It is something you can really soak up, compared to the others in the list. Favourite in Bilahari - Naajevadhara.