Kedaragowla is an attractive raga that pours forth karuna rasa, sringara rasa and bhakti rasa. An audava-sampoorna raga (five notes in ascent, all seven in descent), its arohana-avarohana is SRMPNS/SNDPMGRS . The slow gamaka at the rishabha, taken with a deep inflection from the gandhara is the hallmark of Kedaragowla. The ancient Tamizh pann Gandhara-pancama is very similar to Kedaragowla. This raga is also referred to as Harikedaragowla. Kedaragowla is suited to slow and medium paced pieces and the phrase NSRS,NDP – MPDP,MGR helps us identify the raga easily.
In Carnatic music, this raga is handled with respect by musicians; its gamakas and subtle slides inspire awe. They are painstakingly forged into alapanas and swaras to make the raga bhava surface. Thyagaraja’s ‘Venugana’ (composed by him at Vina Kuppier’s residence as he took in the beauty of the Lord Venugopala’s statue ), and ‘Tulasi Bilva’ are well loved pieces in this raga. Dikshitar’s ‘Neelotphalambikayai’ and ‘Neelakantam Bhajeham’ are well-crafted as is Shyama Sastri’s ‘Parakela’. Other gems in this raga include ‘Saraguna Palimpa’ of Poochi Srinivasa Iyengar, ‘Anda Rama Soundaryam’ of Arunachala Kavi and ‘Samikku Sari’ of Papansam Sivan. This raga is rich in aesthetic appeal and is very closely allied to raga Surutti.
In film music, Kedaragowla has been used mainly in ragamalika pieces and viruttams. It has a rare quality of being easily identifiable, and this feature has been exploited in film music. ‘Ananda Natamidum’ from
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In the film
In the film Tiruvarul of Devar, the song ‘Kandukondain Naan’ begins brightly in Kedaragowla with the phrase that heads towards the upper octave rishabha. Sung by TMS in the music of Kunnakudi Vaidhyanathan, this piece has pleasing orchestration.
In
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Surutti is a classical raga that is known for compositions such as ‘Sri Venkatagirisham’ of Dikshitar and ‘Geetarthamu’ of Thyagaraja. It is an auspicious and complex raga. ‘Sivaperuman Kripai Vendum’ from the 1936 film Naveena Sarangadhara is a vintage piece, composed by Papanasam Sivan in Surutti.