Academic Session, The Music Academy Madras – 27th December, 2024
Through practice and theorisation Karnatik music has been bequeathed a large corpus of ragas. These ragas have come from various regions and traditions. A study of many older (prachina) ragas reveals the complexity of their evolution. These ragas have metamorphized in terms of the svaras, phraseology and tonality that constitute their aesthetic character. But, right through these transformations, these ragas have retained one essential quality, their
non-scalar and abstract nature. Ragas that have come out of the mela classification system and other newer ragas have largely remained bound by the arohana/avarohana krama. This has influenced the way ragas are taught, understood and performed. Is it possible for us to create abstract ragas ? Prachina ragas hold within them pathways to this prospect.