raagawheel

Mela 29Bana chakraM1

Sankarabharanam

formally Dheerasankarabharanam — the name that encodes 29

The name is the number

Dheerasankarabharanam

Dheedha9rara292 reversed29

The 'Dheera' prefix exists to encode the number — dental dha = 9, not retroflex ddha = 4.

Every mela name encodes its own number — how the katapayadi sutra works.

SSR2R2G3G3M1M1PPD2D2N3N3SS (upper octave)

SS (upper octave)N3N3D2D2PPM1M1G3G3R2R2SS

How to know it

Majestic, complete and serene — the Carnatic voice of the Western major scale, equally at home in grandeur and repose; its rasa is Shanta, Veera.

Janyas of Sankarabharanam

Hear it in songs

  • Swara Raga Sudha Rasa

    Tyagaraja · Adi

    One of Tyagaraja's great statements on the divinity of music itself.

    YouTube Spotify

  • Enduku Peddala

    Tyagaraja · Adi

    YouTube Spotify

  • Akshaya Linga Vibho

    Muthuswami Dikshitar · Misra Chapu

    YouTube Spotify

  • Sarojadala Netri

    Syama Sastri · Adi

    All three of the Trinity composed masterpieces in this mela.

    YouTube Spotify

In film music

  • Omkara Nadanu

    Sankarabharanam · 1980

    The film named for this raga revived popular interest in classical music across South India.

    YouTube Spotify