Arabhi
Arabhi or Aarabhi is a ragam in Carnatic music. It is a Janya raga, whose Melakarta raga is Shankarabharanam, 29th in the 72 Melakarta raga system. It is a combination of the pentatonic scale Shuddha Saveri 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, Arabhi is one of the five Ghana ragams that shine with special brilliance when Thanam is played on Veena.
Structure and Lakshana
Its structure is as follows :- Arohana| :
- Avarohana| :
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
- Devagandhari is sung with deergha gandharam
Popular Compositions
The 3rd of Pancharatna Kritis, Sadhinchanaeby 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 |
| Geetam | Rere Sree Ramachandra | Paidala Gurumurti Sastri | Tisra Triputa |
| Varnam | Sarasija Mukhiro | Pallavi Doraiswamy Iyer | Adi |
| Varnam | Annamae Aravaa | Tiger Varadachariar | Adi |
| Varnam | Amba Gauri | Gowri Rukmini Bayi | Tisra Triputa |
| Varnam | Valachiyunna | Veena Kuppayyar | Khanda Ata |
| Kriti | Adidano Ranga | Purandara Dasa | Adi |
| Kriti | Lalisidalu Magana | Purandara Dasa | Adi |
| Kriti | Dangurava Sari | Purandara Dasa | Adi |
| Kriti | Gubbiyalo Gubbiyalo | Vadiraja Tirtha | Adi |
| Kriti | Neela Lohita Damaruga | Jagannatha Dasa | Adi |
| Kriti | Mantralayadolu Rajipa | Kamalesha Vittala Dasu | Adi |
| Kriti | Dachuko Nee Padalaku | Annamacharya | Adi |
| Kriti | Saadinchane O Manasa | Thyagaraja | Adi |
| Kriti | Chaala kallalaadu | Thyagaraja | Adi |
| Kriti | O Rajeevaksha | Thyagaraja | Misra Chapu |
| Kriti | Joothamurare | Thyagaraja | Rupakam |
| Kriti | Nada sudha rasam | Thyagaraja | Rupakam |
| Kriti | O Rama O Rama | Thyagaraja | Adi |
| Kriti | Patiki Mangala | Thyagaraja | Adi |
| Kriti | Na Moralanu Vini | 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 | Idhuve Enakku Laksham Koti | Ootukadu Venkata Kavi | Adi |
| Kriti | Oran Oruvan | Ootukadu Venkata Kavi | Adi |
| Kriti | Maragatha Manimaya | Ootukadu Venkata Kavi | Adi |
| Kriti | Ganarajena rakshitoham | Muthuswamy Dikshitar | Misra Chapu |
| Kriti | Shri Saraswati namostute | Muthuswami Dikshitar | Rupakam |
| Kriti | Shwetaranyeshwaram | Muthuswami Dikshitar | Adi |
| Kriti | Akilandeswarayai Namaste | Muthuswami Dikshitar | Adi |
| Kriti | Adipurishwaram | Muthuswami Dikshitar | Adi |
| Kriti | Marakoti koti lavanya | Muthuswami Dikshitar | Jhampa |
| Kriti | Gowrishaya Namaste | Muthuswami Dikshitar | Triputa |
| Kriti | Palayashumam Paradevate | Syama Sastri | Triputa |
| Kriti | Paahi Parvata Nandini | Swathi Thirunal | Adi |
| Kriti | Vande Maheshwaram | Swathi Thirunal | Misra Chapu |
| Kriti | Narasimha Mamava | Swathi Thirunal | Khanda Chapu |
| Kriti | Shri Ramana Vibho | Swathi Thirunal | Adi |
| Kriti | Padmanabha Pahi Padma Vilochana | Swathi Thirunal | Adi |
| Kriti | Madhu Kaitabha | Muthiah Bhagavathar | Adi |
| Kriti | Rave Puruhutikamba | Maddirala Venkataraya Kavi | Misra Chapu |
| Kriti | Maravanu ne Ninnu | G. N. Balasubramaniam | Rupakam |
| Kriti | Durga Lakshmi Saraswati | Papanasam Sivan | Adi |
| Kriti | Ayyappanai Panivom | Papanasam Sivan | Adi |
| Kriti | Nilakantha Nityananda | Nilakanta Sivan | Adi |
| Kriti | Sri Sakala Ganadhipa | Dr M. Balamuralikrishna | Adi |
| Kriti | Mahadeva Sutam | Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna | Adi |
| Kriti | Maha Balavanta Shri Hanumanta | Kalyani Varadarajan | Adi |
The Popular Onam composition "Maveli Naadu Vaneedum Kaalam" is popularized, and taught in this raga.