Abheri - A sarvakalika raga

Abheri is an audava sampoora janya raga and is derived from the 22nd mela raga Kharaharapriya. It is a bhasanga raga, which admits suddha da (daivatham) as anya svara. Swaras figuring in this raga are: Sa (sadja), Ri (chatusruti Rishaba), Ga (sadarna gandhar), Ma (suddha madhyama), Pa (panchama) and Ni (Kaisiki nishada). This is a sarvakalika raga, which can be sung at all times. Janta and dattu varisai prayogas produce beauty to this raga. Abheri shines well when rendered in madhya and druta laya. Karnataka Devagandari and Bhimplasi of Hindustani music have some resemblance to Abheri.

`Vinabheri’ of Dikshitar and `Nagumomu Ganaleni’ of Saint Thyagaraja, ‘Ninnu Vina Mari Galada’ of Shyama Sastri and `Bhajare re manasa’ of Mysore Vasudevachar are some of the famous kritis in this raga. Here are a few examples of Thyagaraja kritis sung by Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna and Bombay Jayashri.

Dr. Balamuralikrishna’s Nagumomu

Bombay Jayashri has sung Bhajare re Manasa

There are also film songs in raga Abheri such as:

Singara velane dhevA... (Konjum salangai)

Kannodu kaanbathellaam (Jeans)

Vaaraayo vennilaave... (Missiyamma)


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Shyam - shyam_srinivasin@hotmail.com
Brief and concise. Listing film songs is a great idea for it helps people like me, who arent adept at carnatic Music yet... Expecting to see as many ragas as possible...