Carnatic Scale - SENAPATHI (C)
C
-
C#
-
D#
-
F
-
G
-
G#
-
A
-
C
Sa
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RI1
-
Ga2
-
Ma1
-
Pa
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Dha1
-
Ni1
-
Sa
SenaPathi
Now that we are discussing the seventh raga Senavati, let us tell you an interesting fact about this raga. All the six ragas from Kanakangi to Thanaroopi come under what is called Indu chakra which is the first chakra. Senavati marks the starting of the next chakra named Netra.
The first six ragas had similar notes till the note panjamam and thereafter dhaivatham and nishadham keep changing to yield the different ragas. The seventh raga in the Melakarta system of Carnatic music, Senavati, is a sampoorna raga with all the seven notes in place. Being the first raga in the 2nd chakra Netra, its mnemonic name is Netra-Pa.
Arohana: S R1 G2 M1 P D1 N1 S
Avarohana: S N1 D1 P M1 G2 R1 S
The swaras of Senavati raga are shadjam, shuddha rishabham, sadharana gandharam, shuddha madhyamam, panjamam, shuddha dhaivatham and shuddha nishadham. When you sing the swaras, you can try singing prati madhyamam instead of shuddha madhyamam and you will end up with the raga Gavambhodi. This is the 43rd raga in the Melakarta system.
In the Muthuswami Dikshitar school of music, Senavati is known as Senagrani which has the same ascending and descending scales. The only difference is that the arohana and avarohana are sung with some vakra prayogas that follow a zig-zag order as given below.
Arohana: S R1 G2 R1 M1 G2 M1 P N1 D1 S
Avarohana: S N1 D1 P M1 G2 M1 G2 R1 S
Senavati raga has very few janya ragas including Bhogi, Chithakarshani, Sindhu Gowri etc. Shifting the
Shifting the notes of this sampoorna raga using Graha bhedam gives 2 ragas – Latangi and Sooryakantam. Among the few compositions, there are mainly two popular ones. They are Jalamela Raghupathe and Gnanambike palayamam by Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna and Muthuswami Dikshitar respectively. It is a vivadi mela with very few kritis.