gEyahejjaji (hejjaji) - Venkatamakhi / Dikshitar

[SrinathK]

So far this is the most unusual name I've encountered in terms of pronunciation. The actual name of the rAgA is just "hejjaji" - with the gEya being added to fit into kaTapayadi (just like "hanuma / jana tODi").

In Venkatamakhi's work "chaturDanDi prakAshikA" - hejjaji is the 4th of the original 19 mElas, which then grew into a full fledged set of 72 asampUrNa mElas.

In that scheme, this rAgA is the 13th asampUrNa mEla (I found out today that this set of 72 are called ragAnga rAgAs), followed by the Dikshitar parampara. gAyakapriyA which I just covered a while back is the 13 sampUrNa mEla.

hejjaji skips the vivAdi N1 as well as the G3 in the ascent. (Note : A curious feature of the asampUrNa mElAs is to skip vivAdis on the way up, but not down - I wonder why they never tried it the other way round, it would have made for some interesting varieties, but oh well, here we are, so...)

As a result - SNDS - PDS are seen. But a DND is also possible. Additionally, S-M is even more prevalent than SRM. Also RMGM is another phrase possible.

The sole kriti of Dikshitar that is available in gEyahejjaji is rAmachandra bhaktam bhaja mAnasa - one of the few kritis on hanumAn - by Dr. T R Aravindan of "The Lost Melodies" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ko0KqqP6tYc

The bhAva of the rAgA might remind one of the rAgA kalgaDa - the combination of the G3 and N1 responsible for this feel. Dikshitar uses the DND phrase right on the rAgA mudra, almost as if to highlight the vivAdi at that spot.

The chiTTaswaram also features a unique graha bheda - the entire chittaswara is based on graha bhEdam to the P. It is reminiscent of a very old tradition going back to Bharata where S was not the tonic and other notes too could be used as a tonic, kind of like playing on different keys, but perhaps not with any concept of absolute pitch. Such things are only special effects now.

Apparently Dikshitar's school is not the only one to follow this tradtion. Annamacharya has also used it in many compositions, which means this rAgA is even older than vEnkaTamakhi and has been around for a long, long time.

[SriKrishnan]

An unusual name. I. Remember having read or heard in a lecture that it is of Persian origin.

[SrinathK]

I stumbled upon a concert version by Sikkil Gurucharan - shows you how the modernization process works. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7i3p0IZmpzI

Compare it to the baroque version : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ko0KqqP6tYc - it's fascinating how the concept of gamaka has changed over time right?