Darbari Kanada - A Glimpse by RAAGA METRO

Welcome back to ‪@RaagaMetro‬

Hi viewers, the raga that we are going to see next is Darbari Kanada.
Although this is touted as a Hindustani Raga if you look at the history its origin is from Carnatic Music.
History says that this raga was presented to the king Akbar by his renowned court singer Tansen in the Emperor’s court. In Persian language Darbar means court hence the name Darbari or Darbari kanada. In Carnatic music its known as Shudha Kanada too.
As far as Hindustani music is concerned Darbari Raga is a raga which is given lot of weightage. Its sung mostly during late nights. This Raga has a lot of emotional impact and not an easy raga to handle. It is an appropriate raga to perform an Aalaap. But its tough to master this, Raga. Mostly the Aalaps are done in the Mandara Sthayi ie lower octave.
When we talk about Carnatic Music the Kanada used here is similar to darbari kanada. Although they might appear to be the same because of the similaties in the Arohanam and avarohanam scale there are differences between both the Ragas. This can be seen while we sing and show the Arohanam and avarohanam of both the ragas.
Now let’s see the arohanam and avarohanam of Darbari kanada
Arohana: S R2 G2 M1 P D1 N2 S
Avarohana: S D1 N2 P M1 P G2 M1 R2 S

When we say Darbari Kanada we can’t avoid talking about its closely allied Ragam Kanada. Kanada’s Arohanam Avarohanam is sung this way
S R2 P G2 M1 D2 N2 S
S N2 P M1 G2 M1 R2 S

the main difference between the 2 ragas is seen in the note Dha ie Dhaivatam. One is Shudha Dhaivatham another is Chatusruthi Dhaivatham. Shudha Dhaivatham is used in Darbari Kanada and Chatusruthi Dhaivatham is used in Kanada. One more difference can be seen in antara Gandharam(Ga). Although both ragas use Antara Gandharam the way Kanada handles the ga is different in comparison to Darbari Kanada. The ga is excecuted with more emphasis in Kanada in Carnatic music and its sung in a much lighter fashion in Hindustani Music.

The same way there are signature phrases found in the arohanam and avarohanam of both the ragas.
First lets looks at Darbari kanada’s signature phrases. SRG…..in Arohanam and SDN…P in avarohanam. You will be able to identify these phrases in the popular compositions .
Now in Kanada SRPG…..is a popular signature phrase and SNPMG…M..R..S while coming from the top and GMDNS is another signature phrase which can be seen the charanam of the famous krithi Alai payudhe.
There is common phrase for both the ragas GMRS. It’s a beautiful phrase.

Devotion, Love, sorrow as a result of separation are some of the bhavas that can be emoted through this raga.
The therapeutic effect of this raga is as follows .Studies have shown this raga to calm the restless mind, relieve sorrow grief, relieve anxiety and shock. It’s a soothing raga which can improve your concentration span and also said to relieve migraine.
Let’s take a look at the Carnatic compositions in this raga
Chandrachooda by Purandaradasar, Govardhana by Narayana theerthar, Nee nainthaal by Periasamythooran, Hari tum Haro a meera Bhajan which was sung frequently by MS amma.
Let’s take a look at the film songs in this raga. We shall start from the old tamil songs, Mullaimalar mele, Penn enbein
Next in the Illayaraja sir period we have Kalyana thenila, Aagaya vennilave
Recent times in AR Rahman Sir’s composition we have
Kaatre en vasal and pudhu vellai mazhai
We have Vidyasagar ji’s malare mounama from karna. These are some of the popular numbers from tamil movies.
There are famous numbers in hindi films too. There was a famous movie called Mughal-e-azam in which the famous song pyaar kiya tho darna kya,then we have aap ke nazron ne samja and Sathyam shivam Sundaram sung by Lata Mangeshkar ji . All these are famous numbers set in this raga.
Stay tuned for our Darbari Kanada Mash up. Thank you.
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