Raga Kalyani

Raga Kalyani (also known as Mechakalyani in the Melakarta Raga Classification scheme) is one of those Gana ("heavy") ragams that is not only rendered in great depth by traditional carnatic musicians but also is very popular in film music. Gana ragams in some sense represent the richness that is inherent in classical music . The fundamental character of the raga is abstractly represented by the "Arohanam" and "Avarohanam" -- the ascending and descending phrases that are unique to a Raga. Albeit the Arahonam and Avarohanam remains the same for whatever song/kriti based on a specific raga, the subtle variations of the individual notes (also called Gamaka) and emphasis on some subsets of phrases can make two songs based on the same raga being perceived quite differently.

Nowhere is the diversity of the same raga more apparent than in film songs based on classical music -- the richness inherent in the raga enables the brilliant music director to show different aspects of the same raga in completely different ways that the casual listener is duped into thinking each song is completely different.

Since Kalyani is such a popular raga, we will show several examples from the last several decades.

Here in "Mannavan Vandaanadi Thozhi", P.Susheela renders a great adaptation of the Carnatic Kalyani Ragam in the movie Thiruvarutchelvar (starring Sivaji Ganesan and Padmini -- a rather corpulent Padmini at that).






G.S. Mani Iyer's LecDem (Lecture Demonstration)tape is a big source of inspiration for this blog. We will use several examples from his LecDem but will try to augment them with music from the 80s, 90s and contemporary films as well. His selection for Kalyani Ragam is G.N.Balasubramanian's (GNB)rendition of the Great Maestro Thiagaraja's kriti Vasudevayani. We use the rendition of the same kriti by virtuoso Maharajapuram Santhanam.





The film song "Sinthanai Sei Maname" from the movie Ambikapathi has a striking similarity to Vasudevayani.

Here is a rendition of Kalyani by S.P.Balasubramanian (SPB) -- Song: Vandaal Mahalakshmiye Movie: Uyarndha Ullam

The duet "Nadhiyil Aadum" set in Kalyani from the movie Kathal Oviyam sung by S.Janaki and SPB.

The climax song "Dorakuna" sung by SPB in the telugu movie "Shankarabharanam" is set to Kalyani (though this song is typically sung in Raga Bilahari, the music director K.V.Mahadevan decided to render this in Kalyani).

Another K.J.Yesudas song "Amma Endru" from the Rajanikant movie "Mannan" set to Kalyani:

A more recent Kalyani is the song "Kaatril Varum" from the movie "Oru Naal Oru Kanavu":

The Hindustani equivalent of Kalyani is Raga Yaman. One can see the similarity from K.J.Yesudas' rendition of "Jab deep jale" from the Hindi movie Chitchor.

Now for a long piece on Kalyani -- Violin Maestro L.Subrahmanyam's Ragam Tanam Pallavi