Bilahari
Bilahari is a rāgam in Carnatic music. It is a janya rāgam from the 29th melakarta scale Sankarabharanam. It is a janya scale, as it does not have all the seven swaras in the ascending scale. It is a combination of the pentatonic scale Mohanam and the sampurna raga scale Sankarabharanam.
Structure and Lakshana
Bilahari is an asymmetric rāgam that does not contain madhyamam or nishādham in the ascending scale. It is an audava-sampurna rāgam. Its structure is as follows:- Arohana| : they are used in every song
- Avarohanam| :
This rāgam also uses kaishiki nishadham as an external note in the descending scale. Hence it is considered a bhashanga rāgam, a scale with notes external to the parent scale.
Popular compositions
There are many compositions set to Bilahari rāgam. Here are some popular kritis composed in Bilahari.- Sharanu Janakana By Purandara Dasa
- Belagu Javadi Baro By Vadiraja Tirtha
- Lakshmi Shobhane By Vadiraja Tirtha. This is one of the greatest literary works of Vadiraja Tirtha with 112 Charanas and the longest composition known by a carnatic composer
- Hanumana Maneyavaru by Vidyaprasanna Teertha in Kannada
- Na Jeevadhara, Tolijanma, Dorakuna Ituvanti, Kshethra Palaka, Intha Kannanandamemi, Narasimha Nannu Brovave and Kanugontini composed by Tyagaraja
- Sri Balasubramanya, Kamakshi Sri Varalakshmi, Ekadantham Bhajeham, Hatakeshwara and Sri Madhurapuri by Muthuswami Dikshitar
- Smara Sada, Aaraadhayaami, Gopalam Seveham, Pahi Padmanabha, Jaya Suganalaya, Pahi Sarasanabha, Sri Narasimha Jaya, Santhatham Bhajami and Vimukhava Tava by Maharaja Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma
- Karpagambike, Sarvesha Adimaiyai, Vaa Sharavanaa, Jaya Vittala and Nijamunnai Nambinen by Papanasam Sivan
- Parithana Michite by Patnam Subramania Iyer
- Sri Chamundeshwari, Evarani Vedani and Dasharathe Pahimam by Mysore Vasudevacharya
- Anaamilo Mahaboob is a Khayal in Hindi by Maharaja Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma
- Vidudhalai Vidudhalai by Subramania Bharati
- Puraya Mama Kamam is a Tharangam by Narayana Teertha
- Raara Venugopa Bala is a famous Swarajati by Patnam Subramania Iyer
- Kaanbadeppo by Ambujam Krishna
- Rabindranath Tagore has composed Ami Marer Sagor Pari Debo
- Intha Chouka is an Adi tala Varnam composed by Veena Kuppayyar
- Nenarunchi Elukora is an Ata tala varnam by Sonti Venkatasubbayya
- Maa Mayura a Tamil Kriti composed by Mazhavai Chidambara Bharathi
- Maal Maruganai Ninaindidhu by Ramaswami Shivan
- Tillana by Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar
- Paripovalera, Telise Vagalella and Iturara are Javalis by Pattabhiramayya
Film songs
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Related rāgams
This section covers the theoretical and scientific aspect of this rāgam.Scale similarities
- Mohanam has a symmetric pentatonic scale, with the notes same as the ascending scale of Bilahari. Its ' structure is S R2 G3 P D2 S : S D2 P G3 R2 S
- Shankarabharanam is a rāgam with the notes same as the descending scale of Bilahari. Its ' structure is S R2 G3 M1 P D2 N3 S : S N3 D2 P M1 G3 R2 S
- Mohanakalyani is a rāgam which has the prati madhyamam in descending scale in place of the shuddha madhyamam. Its ' structure is S R2 G3 P D2 S : S N3 D2 P M2 G3 R2 S
- Garudadhvani is a rāgam which has the ascending and descending scales interchanged, in comparison with Bilahari. Its ' structure is S R2 G3 M1 P D2 N3 S : S D2 P G3 R2 S
- Desakshi is a rāgam which is similar to Bilahari. The arohana remains the same, while the sampoorna avarohana has Kaishiki Nishada in place of Kakali Nishada. Its structure is S R2 G3 P D2 S : S N2 D2 P M1 G3 R2 S