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ON RAGA HAMSANANDI


A janya of the 53rd melakarta Gamanasrama, this is a panchamavarjiya raga -- the raga does not have the note Pa. This is why the raga has to be handled very carefully, as accidental touching of Pa, however briefly, will bring in the shades of Poorvikalyani, another important raga in Carnatic music, which also happens to be a janya of Gamanasrama.
As the note Pa, in whichever raga it appears, is an 'anchor' note like mantra Sa and Tara Sa and acts as a nyasa swara it is a stabilizing factor. Hence, the absence of Pa calls for a little alertness in handling this raga.
This raga resembles raga Sohoni of Hindustani music, which is a janya of Marwa tthat.
Hamsanandi is a Shadava Shadava raga as it has six notes both in arohana and avarohana.
S R1 G3 M2 D2 N3 S
S N3 D2 M2 G3 R1 S
The swaras are Shudha Rishabham, Antara Gandharam, Prati Madhyamam, Chatushruti Dhaivatam and Kakali Nishadham.
A very pleasant raga, Hamsanandi is very suitable for light music, bhajans and cinema songs. Compositions for dance also sound very attractive in this raga.
As there are not many heavy compositions in this raga, the scope for using it as a main raga in a Carnatic concert is limited.
The prayogas G M D G M G and G M D N S N D M G are very attractive and establish the identity of the raga instantly.
In the accompanying first audio file, you would be listening to a brief alapana and the very popular composition Pavanaguru on Lord Guruvayurappan by Lalitadasar, who lived in the last century. Set to Rupaka tala this composition is very popular with Kerala audiences. This kritibrings out the beauty of the raga.
Other compositions in the raga are Pahi jagatjanani of Swati Tirunal in Aadi tala, Needu Mahima of Muthiah Bhagavatar also in Aadi and the Tamil composition of Papanasam SivanSrinivasa in Aadi.
There is another type of Hamsanandi said to be a janya of 8th Melakarta Hanumathodi, which is not very popular and rather unfamiliar. It is not heard of much.
The second audio file is a Hindi bhajan by Swati Tirunal viz Shankara Srigirinath. Maharaja Swati Tirunal was a linguist and has composed in many languages. This bhajan set to Aadi tala describes the majesty of Lord Siva's Thandava nritya or cosmic dance in Chidambaram temple in Tamil Nadu. This Siva temple in the well-known pilgrim town is very famous and is dedicated to Lord Nataraja or the king of dance.
Describing the dance of Lord Sankara in the Chitra sabha of Chidambaram, the composer describes the congregation of devas and Rishi munis witnessing the cosmic dance of Lord Siva who is adorned with garland of skulls, smeared with bhasma (holy ash) dancing away withBhootaganas. The song uses syllables used in Bharata natya i.e. TA, TATAKKITA, TAKKA etc.

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