Hamsanadam

Hamsanadam (pronounced hamsanādam) is a rāgam in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is a pentatonic scale (audava rāgam, which means "of 5"), as it is sung in current days.[1] It is a derived scale (janya rāgam), as it does not have all the seven swaras (musical notes), from the 60th Melakarta rāgam Neetimati.[1]

Hamsanadam

Arohanam	S R₂ M₂ P N₃ Ṡ
Avarohanam	Ṡ N₃ P M₂ R₂ S

Structure and Lakshana

Hamsanadam scale with shadjam at C

Hamsanadam, as it is sung now-a-days, is a symmetric scale that does not contain gandharam and dhaivatam. It is called an audava rāgam,[1] in Carnatic music classification (as it has 5 notes in both ascending and descending scales). Its ārohaṇa-avarohaṇa structure is as follows (see swaras in Carnatic music for details on below notation and terms):

• ārohaṇa : S R₂ M₂ P N₃ Ṡ[lower-alpha 1]
• avarohaṇa : Ṡ N₃ P M₂ R₂ S[lower-alpha 2]

This scale uses the notes shadjam, chatusruti rishabham, prati madhyamam, panchamam and kakali nishadam.

Other structures

Earlier structure of this scale were as follows:[1][2]

• Ascending scale : S R₂ M₂ P D₃ N₃ Ṡ[lower-alpha 3]
• Descending scale : Ṡ N₃ D₃ N₃ P M₂ R₂ S[lower-alpha 4]

In the above, shatsruti dhaivatam is added in the scale compared to current usage (shadava scale with 6 notes in ascendinga and descending scale), with a vakra prayoga (zig-zag descending scale).[1][2]

Graha bhedham

Hamsanadam's notes when shifted using Graha bhedham, yields two pentatonic rāgams, Gambhiranata and Bhupalam. Graha bhedham is the step taken in keeping the relative note frequencies same, while shifting the shadjam to the next note in the rāgam. For more details and illustrations of this concept refer Graha bhedham on Gambhiranata.

Popular compositions

Hamsanadam has a few popular compositions:

• kalyANa rAmA by oottukkADu Sri vEnkaTAkavi
• Bantureethi Koluvu by Tyagaraja
• Niye Paramukham by Papanasam Sivan
• Kripanidhe by Muthiah Bhagavatar
• pADa vENDumE by Sri MM Dandapani Desikar
• Bharama Ee Baluni by G N Balasubramaniam

Film Songs

Language:Tamil

Song	Movie	Composer	Singer
Thendral Vandhu Ennai Thodum	Thendrale Ennai Thodu	Ilaiyaraaja	K. J. Yesudas, S. Janaki
Kanni Ponnu	Ninaivellam Nithya		Malaysia Vasudevan, P. Susheela
Om Namaha	Idhayathai Thirudathe		Mano, S. Janaki
Sorgame Endraalum	Ooru Vittu Ooru Vanthu		Ilaiyaraaja, S. Janaki
Isaiyil Thodangudhamma	Hey Ram		Ajoy Chakrabarty
Vayathu Vaa Vaa	Thulluvadho Ilamai	Yuvan Shankar Raja	Srinivas, Harini
Oru Poo Ezhuthum Kavithai	Pooveli	Bharadwaj	P. Unnikrishnan, K. S. Chithra
Manasu Marugudhe	Pallikoodam		Narayanan,Subhiksha – Thenmozhi
Poo Vaasam	Anbe Sivam	Vidyasagar	Vijay Prakash, Sadhana Sargam
Meetu Ennai (Pallavi Anupallavi only)	Maathangal Ezhu		S. P. Balasubrahmanyam,K. S. Chithra
Thamirabarani Aaru	Solaiyamma	Deva	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, S. Janaki
Medhuva Medhuva (Varuma)	En Uyir Shanthi	Konnadi Edvinsan	Mano, K. S. Chithra
Uyir Ennum	Vaaraayo Vennilaave	Karthik Raja	Madhushree,Rita,Senthil Dass
Arumbey	Kaali	Vijay Antony	Nivas,Janaki Iyer
Yugam Noorai			Vedala Hemachandra, Sangeetha Rajeshwaran
Pudhu Unarve	Nishabdham	Gopi Sundar	Karthik, Harini

Language:Telugu

Song	Movie	Composer	Singer
Yamuna Theeram	Anand	K. M. Radha Krishnan	Hariharan, K. S. Chitra
Yedhalo Gaanam
Madhuramite	Nishabdham	Gopi Sunder	Najim Arshad, Harini (singer)

Notes

1. Alternate notations:
   • Hindustani: S R M̄ P N Ṡ
   • Western: C D F♯ G B C
2. Alternate notations:
   • Hindustani: Ṡ N P M̄ R S
   • Western: C B G F♯ D C
3. Alternate notations:
   • Hindustani: S R M̄ P Ṉ N Ṡ
   • Western: C D F♯ G A♯ B C
4. Alternate notations:
   • Hindustani: Ṡ N Ṉ N P M̄ R S
   • Western: C B A♯ B G F♯ D C

References

1. Raganidhi by P. Subba Rao, Pub. 1964, The Music Academy of Madras
2. Ragas in Carnatic music by Dr. S. Bhagyalekshmy, Pub. 1990, CBH Publications