| Arabhi |
Arabhi or Aarabhi (pronounced ārabhi) is a ragam (musical scale) in Carnatic music (South Indian classical music). It is a Janya raga (derived scale), whose Melakarta raga (parent scale, also known as janaka) is Shankarabharanam, 29th in the 72 Melakarta raga system. It is a combination of the pentatonic scale Shuddha Saveri (or Durga in Hindustani Music) and the sampurna raga scale Shankarabharanam.
Arabhi is a raga that dates back to 7 AD. Originally, it was called as pazhanthakkam in Ancient Tamil music. A very auspicious ragam that emanates Veera rasa (valour), Arabhi is one of the five Ghana ragams that shine with special brilliance when Thanam is played on Veena.[1]
Its structure (ascending and descending scale) is as follows (see swaras in Carnatic music for details on below notation and terms):
Arabhi raga is an Owdava-sampoorna raga meaning, 5 swaras occur in the arohana (so it is called Owdava) and in avarohana all swaras occur (so sampoorna).
It is a raga without much gamakas and frequency variations, relying instead on flat notes. The important point is the swara "ga" always comes very close to "ma" so when we sing the phrase "ma ga ri" it sounds like "ma ma ri". Likewise the swara "ni" always comes very close to the swara "sa" hence when we sing the phrase "sa ni da" it sounds like "sa sa da".
The closest raga to this one is Devagandhari. There are few aspects which make Arabhi different (though both share the same ascending and desce
Arabhi raga is a very energetic and it lends itself to creativity in brigas (fast-paced swara usages) more than gamakas.
The 3rd of Pancharatna Kritis (five gems of compositions), Sadhinchanae(also known as "Samayaniki Tagu Mataladene") by Saint Thyagaraja is a famous composition set in Arabhi raga. Here we can note that Thyagaraja uses phrases like "sa sa da" in the charanam although there are phrases like "sa ni da" also.
Here are some more compositions set to Arabhi.
| Type | Composition | Composer | talam | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sarasija Mukhiro | Pallavi Doraiswamy Iyer | Adi | ||
| Varnam | Annamae aravaa | Adi | ||
| Varnam | Amba Gauri | Adi | ||
| Kriti | Adidano Ranga (2nd Navaratna Malike) | Adi | ||
| Lalisidalu Magana | Adi | |||
| Kriti | Dangurava Sari | Adi | ||
| Kriti | Gubbiyalo Gubbiyalo | Adi | ||
| Kriti | Neela Lohita Damaruga | Adi | ||
| Kriti | Mantralayadolu Rajipa | Kamalesha Vittala Dasu | Adi | |
| Kriti | Dachuko Nee Padalaku | Annamacharya | Adi | |
| Kriti | Saadinchane O Manasa (3rd Pancharatnam) | Thyagaraja | Adi | |
| Kriti | Chaala kallalaadu | Thyagaraja | Adi | |
| Kriti | O Rajeevaksha | Chapu | ||
| Kriti | Joothamurare | Rupakam | ||
| Kriti | Nada sudha rasa | Thyagaraja | Rupakam | |
| Kriti | Patiki Mangala | Thyagaraja | Adi | |
| Kriti | Sundari Ninnu Varnimpa | Thyagaraja | Misra Chapu | |
| Kriti | Pranavakaram Siddhi Vinayakam | Ootukadu Venkata Kavi | Adi | |
| Kriti | Sakala Loka Nayike Twam Eva Sharanam | Ootukadu Venkata Kavi | Adi | |
| Kriti | Ganarajena rakshitoham | Muthuswamy Dikshitar | Misra Chapu | |
| Kriti | Shri Saraswati namostute | Rupakam | ||
| Kriti | Shwetaranyeshwaram | Adi | ||
| Kriti | Adipurishwaram | Adi | ||
| Kriti | Marakoti koti lavanya | Jhampa | ||
| Kriti | Gowrishaya Namaste | Muthuswami Dikshitar | Triputa | |
| Kriti | Palayashumam Paradevate | Triputa | ||
| Kriti | Paahi Parvata Nandini (Navarathri krithi-9th day) | Adi | ||
| Kriti | Vande Maheshwaram | Misra Chapu | ||
| Kriti | Narasimha Mamava | Khanda Chapu | ||
| Kriti | Shri Ramana Vibho | Aadi | ||
| Kriti | Madhu kaitabha | Adi | ||
| Kriti | Rave Puruhutikamba | Maddirala Venkataraya Kavi | Misra Chapu | |
| Kriti | Maravanu ne ninnu | G. N. Balasubramaniam | Rupakam | |
| Kriti | Durga Lakshmi Saraswati | Adi | ||
| Kriti | Nilakantha Nityananda | Nilakanta Sivan | Adi | |
| Kriti | Sri Sakala Ganadhipa | Adi | ||
| Kriti | Mahadeva Sutam | Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna | Adi | |
| Kriti | Maha Balavanta Shri Hanumanta | Kalyani Varadarajan | Adi |
| Song | Movie | Composer | Singers | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hey Parvathi natha[3] | Sita Rama Kalyanam (1961 film) | Gali Penchala Narasimha Rao | Ghantasala (musician) | |
| Tapamu Phalinchina Shubhavela | Sri Krishnarjuna Yuddhamu | Pendyala (composer) | Ghantasala (musician) | |
| Sri Kamini Kamitakara | Panduranga Mahatyam | T. V. Raju | Ghantasala (musician) | |
| Brindavanamadi Andaridi Govindudu Andari vadele(Confluence of Devagandhari present)[4] | Missamma | S. Rajeswara Rao | A. M. Rajah & P. Susheela |