Carnatic Scale - VANASPATHI (C)
C
-
C#
-
D
-
F
-
G
-
A
-
A#
-
C
Sa
-
RI1
-
Ga1
-
Ma1
-
Pa
-
Dha2
-
Ni2
-
Sa
Vanaspathi
Vanaspathi means ‘the lord of the forest’ and it is the fourth raga in the Melakarta system of Carnatic music. Called Bhanumati in the Muthuswami Diskshitar school of music, this is the fourth raga in the first chakra Indu and its mnemonic name is Indu-Bhu.
Arohana: S R1 G1 M1 P D2 N2 S
Avarohana: S N2 D2 P M1 G1 R1 S
The notes of Vanaspathi are shadjam, shuddha rishabham, shuddha gandharam, shuddha madhyamam, panjamam, chathusruthi dhaivatham and kaisiki nishadham. It is a sampoorna raga with seven notes and the shuddha madhyamam equivalent of the 40th Melakarta raga Navaneetam.
Vanaspati differs from Bhanumati in arohana and avarohana as shown below.
Arohana: S R1 M1 P D2 N2
Avarohana: S N2 D2 P M1 G1 R1 S
Vanaspathi has very few janya ragas among which Rasali is popular. When you shift Vanaspathi’s notes using Graha bhedam, it yields the Melakarta raga Mararanjani. Some of the classical compositions of the raga are Pariyachakama composed by Tyagaraja and Eswari Jagadiswari by Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna. The tamil movie song Nee Romba Busy is born out of this raga. Vanaspati is a vivadi raga that creates a rather moody atmosphere when sung in concerts.