Loading ...

Mysterious Medieval transformations – Ragas Āharī and Ābhērī

Date: 22.12.2024 – Sunday – 8.05 – 8.50 a.m.

Speaker : Dr K Srilatha

Title : Mysterious Medieval transformations – Ragas Āharī and Ābhērī

Abstract :

Today, the ragas Ābheri and Āhari have distinct identities. Yet, their history is intertwined and complex. The musical treatises of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries define them as allied ragas belonging to the Āharī mela (the equivalent of today’s Kīravāṇī mela). However, in the late-seventeenth century, a sudden transformation seems to have occurred. ‘Rāgalakṣaṇamu’, a text attributed to Śāhajī, the Marāṭhā ruler of Thanjavur, abruptly assigns the ragas to the Bhairavī mēla (the equivalent of today’s Naṭabhairavī), without any explanation. This has remained a puzzle in the history of Karnāṭaka Music.

To find possible reasons for this mysterious transformation, Srilatha investigates the origins of Śāhajī’s text. The investigation reveals the text’s close relationship with the Gīta, Prabandha, ālāpa, ṭhāya and sūlādi compositions found in the ‘Gīta’ manuscripts of the Thanjavur Sarasvati Mahal Library. These manuscripts also contain raga lakṣaṇa annotations in the marginalia, which uses a hitherto unknown mela scheme. For the first time, these are analysed to show that the transformation of Āhari and Ābhēri occurred due to errors of transmission in the written medium.

Using these preliminary findings, Srilatha argues that the Gīta manuscripts were not only the source for songs, but they were also the source for the raga lakṣaṇa descriptions in Śāhajī’s Rāgalakṣaṇamu. Finally, she discusses the impact of these findings on our understanding of the raga history of South India.

Keywords: Early-modern History of Carnatic Music, Ragalaksanamu of Sahaji, Caturdandi, Ahari, Abheri