Kalyani and Mohanam - The Versatile Cousins

As with people, ragas have their own individuality. Some of the ragas are tradition bound whereas some others are very versatile, adapting themselves to various styles. I will talk about a couple of ragas which exemplify versatility.

Kalyani is the only raga from the 'grand' ragas of Carnatic music which has this versatility. The 'grand' ragas that I am referring to are Todi, Sankarabaranam, Kalyani, Kambhoji and Bhairavi, the famous five. Some people may take up the case of Sankarabaranam since it is one the major scales in Western music as well. In cases like Sankarabaranam, the identity of Sankarabaranam changes so much that we are not able to recognize it as Sankarabaranam!!! To take away the carnatic flavour from a ragam like Todi and give a 'lighter' touch is a very difficult thing. I remember reading a review of U.Srinivas's concert by noted Hindu critic N M Narayanan (NMN). In the review he says that U.Srinivas tried his best to break Todi from its carnatic music shackles and give it an universal feel and that Todi refused to yield. You will also observe that there are very few Todis in film music. The last one I can remember is that of Illayaraja, 'Gangai Karai Mannan Adi'. Here too the Todi disappears during the interlude music !!! The same is the case with Kambhoji and Bhairavi. It is very difficult to uproot them and transpose them into a new setting.

Kalyani is an exception. While Sankarabaranam seems to change itself totally in a different setting, Kalyani changes itself but keeps its core intact. S P Balu in a program said, "You can try and hide Kalyani but somehow it slowly creeps in". In the Indian context Kalyani has provided inspiration to multitudes of composers, both classical and film. The Indian ear is very well tuned to Kalyani and it is no wonder that composers capitalize on this to give some melodious music.

The number of songs in Carnatic music based on Kalyani are many. The Trinity gave some priceless compositions in Kalyani. The krithi which defined Tyagaraja, 'Nidhi Chala Sukama', is in Kalyani. So are the other popular ones such as 'Ae Thavunara', 'Sundari Nee Divya Rupamu', 'Shive Pahimam', 'Vasudevayani' and many many more. Dikshitar also gave some gems in Kalyani including 'Kamalambam Bhaja re', 'Abhayamba Jagadamba', 'Bhajare re chita' and others. Syama Sastry's 'Talli Ninnu Nera' and 'Himadrisute' are concert favourites. Almost every composer worth his/her name has composed in Kalyani and almost every form with carnatic music be it a geetham, varnam, javali, padam etc has a Kalyani in it. (The best Kalyani according to me is the padam 'Iddari sandula' sung by Brinda and Mukta. A pristine Kalyani which stays put in your mind)

Similarly, Kalyani has inspired Hinustani musicians as well and Yaman (their name for Kalyani) is a major raga in Hindustani music. I heard that similar to Mayamalavagowla being taught for beginners of Carnatic music, it is Kalyani which is first raga taught for beginners in the Hindustani system. For a more detailed article on Kalyani, I will point you to http://www.sawf.org Look under the music section and you will article about the Hindustani Kalyani as well as an article on Carnatic Kalyani.

Kalyani has inspired our music directors no end and continues to inspire them. In the article I had pointed to above you can see examples of many Hindi film songs which are based on Kalyani. Similarly, Telugu musicians from the time of Pendyala, Rajeshwar Rao and Gantasala have tuned many songs in Kalyani and almost always the song becomes a hit and is loved by all. K V Mahadevan has also tuned lot of Kalyanis in Telugu movies. One music director whose Kalyanis I like a lot is Ramesh Naidu and the song, 'Joru meedunnavu tummeda' from the movie Sivaranjani, shows a unique way of using Kalyani. The raga's charm and attraction doesn't dim with so many songs being tuned in it. Instead, it challenges the music directors to explore more of its versatility and the result is always pleasant. One of the latest Kalyani I heard is from the film Godavari. The title song of the film is tuned in Kalyani and it makes for a great number. The number of great Telugu songs based on Kalyani is too long to list here.

It is the same with Tamil film music as well with Kalyani playing an important part. There have been some great Kalyanis in the past but it was Illayaraja who exploited the versatility of Kalyani to the maximum. On one end of the spectrum were the more traditional sounding Kalyanis from him like 'Amma Enrayakkada', 'Janani Janani'. 'Vellai Pura Onru' is an example of Kalyani made 'light' without its color being lost. He also experimented in 'Kalaivaniye' in which only the arohanam of Kalyani was used and the avarohanam was eschewed. A short and charming Kalyani was 'Yamunai Aatrile'. One of his best recent songs was 'Katril Varum Geetame' (some junk movie) based on Kalyani. He has a huge number of good songs based on Kalyani.

One of the recent songs based on Kalyani which impressed me a lot was 'Oru Thaedi partha tendral veesum' from the movie called Coimbatore Mapillai. The movie in all probability was junk. This song tuned by Vidyasagar was a gem though. The Kalyani presented is as fresh as a teenage girl and is a testimony to this great ragam's versatility as well as a testimony to Vidyasagar's musical abilities.

Other than the classical music and film music side, you can find Kalyani seeping into almost every form of music in India like light classical music, folk etc.

I know that some people feel that Kalyani is over-exposed especially in carnatic concerts. On the other hand I am always happy to hear a Kalyani in a concert. In my opinion Kalyani will continue to inspire generations to come.

If Kalyani has a pan Indian appeal, Mohanam has an universal appeal. The whole of South East Asia, Japan and China have Mohanam as one of their main melodies. I have heard a lot of Mohanam whenever I had been to Japan. Most of their classical music has Mohanam in it. The national anthem of Thailand is supposed to be based on Mohanam !! Similarly in many ads advertising Thailand as a tourist destination I could hear strains of Mohanam.

Western rock and folk music also have Mohanam in them. I remember an evening when I came home from office with an headache and the tape of 'Allman Brother's Band' in my pocket. My friend had suggested this band and asked me to particularly listen to two songs, 'Rambling Man' and 'Jessica'. I took a Saridon for my headache and put the tape in to listen to 'Jessica'. This particular piece is an instrumental piece. After the initial guitar melody, the piano starts its solo. Here comes a fabulous Mohanam. My mother just then walked into the room and I told her, "Listen to this Mohanam". She listened and said, "Nice Mohanam. Who is playing it?". She was thinking that some carnatic musician was playing it !! Ofcourse I had the opposite reaction as well when I played Lalgudi's Mohanam to my friend and told him that this was the same ragam as 'Jessica'. He said that he couldnt map them !!! The very popular Beetles song, 'Hey Jude' is based on Mohanam. There are more such pieces in Western rock music.

Mohanam's impact in India is more than that of Kalyani. I have heard folk music of Rajasthan which has Mohanam in it. (There is a resort called 'Dhola Re Dani' in Hyderabad where I saw a live performance of Rajanstani folk and one of the tunes was based on Mohanam). The folk music of Assam has it. The folk music of South has it as do the bhajans of western India. It will be safe to say that throughout India, in every form of music, you are bound to encounter Mohanam. Like Kalyani, Mohanam too will continue to inspire composers and singers in the years to come.

Before signing off, a small bit about the combination of these two ragas, Mohana Kalyani. Janaki who has given many great songs under the baton of Illayaraja, gives one of her best for a Mohan Kalyani based Kannada song, 'Yaava Janmada Maitri" under the music direction of G K Venkatesh. A very touching song. Listen to it if you get a chance.