Carnatic Scale - MAANAVATHI (C)
C
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C#
-
D
-
F
-
G
-
A
-
B
-
C
Sa
-
RI1
-
Ga1
-
Ma1
-
Pa
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Dha2
-
Ni3
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Sa
Maanavathi
Maanavathi, meaning ‘the bride’, is the fifth raga in the Melakarta system of Carnatic music. It is referred to as Manoranjani in Muthuswami Dikshitar school of music. It occurs as the 5th raga in the first chakra Indu and its mnemonic name is Indu-Ma.
Arohana: S R1 G1 M1 P D2 N3 S
Avarohana: S N3 D2 P M1 G1 R1 S
The notes of this raga are shadjam, shuddha rishabham, shuddha gandharam, shuddha madhyamam, panjamam, chathusruthi dhaivatham and kakali nishadham. When the shuddha madhyamam of this sampoorna raga changes to prati madhyamam, it becomes the 41st Melakarta raga, Pavani.
The difference in the arohana of Manoranjani can be seen below.
Arohana: S R1 M1 P D2 N3 S
Avarohana: S N3 D2 P M1 G1 R1 S
An interesting fact about Manoranjani is that it is commonly used in western music as it does not have a minor or major third making it an ‘ambiguous’ scale. This special quality of this raga is the reason why westerners love it.
Maanavathi has very few janya ragas like Ghanashyamala and Kunjari. Some of the compositions in this raga include Thyagaraja’s Evarito ne delpudu, Balamuralikrishna’s Sri Hanumantam and Koteeswara Iyer’s Nijabhaktim. Maanavathi’s notes yield Kantamani raga when shifted using Graha Bhedam. The song Chella papa from the Malayalam movie Mad Dad is composed Maanavathi raga.