raagawheel

Mela 39Rishi chakraM2

Jhalavarali

also known as Dhalivarali, Varali (janya form)

The name is the number

Jhalavarali

Jhajha9lala393 reversed39

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

SSR1R1G1G1M2M2PPD1D1N3N3SS (upper octave)

SS (upper octave)N3N3D1D1PPM2M2G1G1R1R1SS

Characteristic phrases

SSG1G1R1R1G1G1M2M2PP

The vakra opening of janya Varali — the form in which this scale is almost always actually sung.

How to know it

Grave and intense; through its janya Varali this scale carries some of the weightiest, most gamaka-laden music in the tradition; its rasa is karuna, bhakti.

Hear it in songs

  • Kana Kana Ruchira

    Tyagaraja · Adi

    The fourth of Tyagaraja's Ghana Raga Pancharatnas, in Varali — the vakra janya through which mela 39 is really known.

    YouTube Spotify

  • Mamava Meenakshi

    Muthuswami Dikshitar · Misra Chapu

    In Varali; a Madurai Meenakshi krithi. Dikshitar's school files this scale under the asampurna name Dhalivarali.

    YouTube Spotify

  • Seshachala Nayakam

    Muthuswami Dikshitar · Rupaka

    In Varali, on Venkateswara of Tirupati.

    YouTube Spotify