Ragas and their aesthetics

I haven't been active on this side of the blog as much as I'm on books' posts. The blame is completely on me as I didn't have any idea on how to continue this. I always wanted my music blog to be creative and informative not just monotonously written long paragraphs. The other day when I was surfing through Instagram I stumbled on a page that posted about the Aesthetics of ragas. I found the idea of a raga having a specific aesthetic very interesting so here I am.

I believe that everything in this world has an aesthetic. Be it an object, a place or a concept. When we hear a word, say, for example, "Night", I think about the moon-lit sky scattered with stars, cool breeze, deafening silence and peace. Many people may correlate night with other things as aesthetics can sometimes be subjective. In the same sense, music too has an aesthetic.

Since the time I've been learning Carnatic music, I've had some affinity towards specific ragas. I'm still an amateur, so my horizons are not much wide when it comes to ragas. So bear with me for some time while I preposterously talk about the aesthetics of some ragas.

Among the ragas that I've learnt, still learning, in Carnatic music, my all-time favourites would be Bhairavi, Thodi, Varali, Nalinakanthi, Reetigowla, Shanmukhapriya, Anandabhairavi, Yamuna Kalyani, Arabhi, Neelambari. Looks like I'm naming too many so I'm going to stop right here and talk about other ragas in the next post. Keep in mind that I'm not talking about the technicalities here, just about what I think of these ragas and how I feel about them.

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Bhairavi is like a regal queen. One could never not be in love with this raga. Whenever I'm subjected to this beauty, I'd be both intimidated and in complete awe that I would be rendered speechless. Regardless of what bhava it evokes, in my opinion, there is no other raga that could be on par with Bhairavi. Many of the composers have written many compositions in this raga. Shyama sastri's Swarajathi on Goddess Kamakshi, Dikshitar's "Balagopalam", Tyagaraja's countless krithis and many other great composers that have composed in this raga that will transcend us to a different dimension altogether.

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Thodi, one of the priceless jewels in the crown of Carnatic music. There's a sort of somberness to Thodi that envelops you completely. I always associate Thodi with a thunderstorm, relentless yet welcoming in its own way. Whenever I think of this raga, I imagine sullen grey clouds, a peaceful calm that is ready to be destroyed by a storm. One could experience all this just by listening to M.S. Subbalakshmi's rendition of "kamalambike", a Navavarna Kriti of Dikshithar. If I were to name the compositions in this raga, then trust me, one post would never be enough for that.

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Now let's flip the switch and talk about something lighter. Reetigowla is a very cheeky raga that always evokes a pleasant feeling in me. Sometimes, I feel this raga is like a mischievous kid that is always up to something who is always on the run and other times, I feel like there is a sense of stillness in it, a pure burst of bright colours. A pleasant morning with a dewy breeze and with just the right amount of sunlight. My favorite compositions in this raga are Subbaraya Shastri's Magnum Opus "Janani Ninuvina", Jo Jo Rama, Chera ravademi, Badalika teera by Saint Tyagaraja. This raga is used in many of the cinema songs too.

Alright, If I write anymore, this post is going to become what I feared; monotonously written long paragraphs. I think I'll be writing more of this in my upcoming posts. Thank you for reading my pointless rant.

- Vasudha