Ahiri


Ahiri is a rāgam in Carnatic music. It is a janya rāgam, and associated with the 14th melakarta scale Vakulabharanam. It has also been associated with the 8th melakarta scale Hanumatodi. Though it has all the seven swaras in the ascending and descending scale, the presence of zig-zag notes makes it a janya rāgam.
Ahiri is an ancient rāgam mentioned in Sangita Makarandha and Sangita samayasara. It is a difficult rāgam to master, but it is rewarding. The rāgam is synonymous with karuna rasa. It is considered an early-morning scale.

Structure and Lakshana

Ahiri is an asymmetric rāgam which has vakra swaras in the ascending scale. It is a sampurna rāgam. Several ārohaṇa-avarohaṇa structures are assigned due to the usage of foreign notes :
  • ārohaṇa :
  • avarohaṇa :
The notes used in this scale are shadjam, shuddha rishabham, antara gandharam, shuddha madhyamam, panchamam, shuddha dhaivatam and kaisiki nishadham in the scale. For the details of the notations and terms, see swaras in Carnatic music.
Since there is additional usage of external notes, in comparison to its parent scale, it is considered a bhashanga rāgam. Notes Ri, Ga, Dha and Ni which are different from the parent scale are used in this scale and is considered to have lot of subtle srutis.

Popular compositions

There are many compositions set to Ahiri rāgam. Here are some popular kritis composed in this rāgam.

Language:Tamil and Malayalam">Tamil language">Tamil and Malayalam

A popular Hindi film song in Ahiri Ragam is - Ay Chand Teri Chandni Ki Kasam from the movie Tera Jadoo Chal Gaya, composed by Ismail Darbar and sung by Sonu Nigam & Alka Yagnik
Popular Malayalam film songs in Ahiri Ragam are Pazhanthamil from the movie Manichitrathazhu, and chempakappoonkattile from rathinirvedam