In South Indian weddings it is a very prominently played raga. The wordKalyani means she who causes auspicious things. It is the 65th melakarta raga under the Katapayadi sankhya. It is also called Mechakalyani. The notes for Kalyani are S R2 G3 M2 P D2 N3. Kalyani is the first Prathi Madhyama raga that was ever discovered. It was obtained by the process of Graha Bhedam or modal shift of tonic of the ancient Shadja Grama.
Specifics on this raga
Kalyani has scope for elaborate alapana. One should not remain too long on panchamam or alternate between shadjamam and panchamam too frequently. Kalyani is prominently known among the public. It is often performed at the beginning of concerts because it is considered auspicious. This raga is very special because it is sung with all higher notes.
Structure and Lakshana
It is the 5th ragam in the 11th chakra Rudra. The mnemonic name is Rudra-Ma. The mnemonic phrase is sa ri gu mi pa dhi nu. Its structure is as follows :
Arohana|:
Avarohana|:
The notes used in this scale are shadjam, chatushruti rishabam, antara gandharam, prati madhyamam, chatushruti dhaivatam, kakali nishadam. It is a Sampurna raga in Carnatic music, that is to say, has all the seven notes: Sa, Ri, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, Ni. It is the prati madhyamam equivalent of Dheerasankarabharanam, which is the 29th melakarta. This raga is very significant to the chart, because it is sung with all higher notes.
Janya Ragams
Kalyani has many janya ragams associated with it, of which Hamir Kalyani, Mohanakalyani, Saranga, Sunadavinodini and Yamuna Kalyani are very popular. SeeList of Janya Ragams for full list of rāgams associated with Kalyani.
Popular compositions
Nearly every significant Carnatic composer has composed several pieces in the Kalyani ragam. Kalyani is also considered one of the "major" ragams of Carnatic music along with Sankarabharanam, Todi and Kharaharapriya. See [|next section] for further information on relationships between these ragams. Here is a short list of well known compositions in Kalyani.
Vanajāksha, an Ata talavarnam and Needu Charana composed by Pallavi Gopala Iyer.
Nidhi chāla sukhamā, Etavunnārā, Sundari nī Divya, Ammā Rāvammā and Vāsudēvanyani by Tyagaraja in Telugu
The most popular film composition set in Kalyani is " Mannavan Vandhanadi Thozhi" by K V Mahadevan rendered by P Susheela," and Sindhanai Sei Maname by G.Ramanadan.M.S.Viswanathan has composed numerous songs in Kalyani such as "Isai Ketal Puvi" from the movie Thavapudhalavan,"Indha Mandrathil" from Policekaran Magal,"Maalai Sudum mananaal" from Nichaya Thamboolam,"Kannan Vandhan" from Ramu,"Azhagennum Oviyam Inge","Paar Magale Paar", "Varuvan Vadivelan", "Maduraiyil Parandha Meenkodi", "Mugathil Mugam paarkalam". "Amma Endrazhaikkaatha Uyirillaye" by Ilayaraja, "Manmadha Pournami" in Panchavankadu by G Devarajan. The track Kalaivaniye in Sindhu Bhairavi that is set in the Kalyani rāgam and sung without an avarohaṇam. The Bharathiar composition Veenai Adi Nee Enakku from the movie Ezhavathu Manithan is also set in the Kalyani ragam. The Telugu movie Sankarabharanam has a Shloka"Māṇikya Upalālayanti" set in this ragam. "Aa Nimishathinte" from the Malayalam movieChandrakantham and "Swarganandini" from Lankadahanam composed by M.S.Viswanathan also set in Kalayani.
Related ragams
This section covers the theoretical and scientific aspect of Kalyani. Kalyani's notes when shifted using Graha bhedam, yields 5 other major Melakarta ragams, namely, Hanumatodi, Sankarabharanam, Natabhairavi, Kharaharapriya and Harikambhoji. For further details and an illustration of Graha bhedam of this ragam refer Related ragams section in Sankarabharanam page.
Yaman/Aiman is not an ancient raga. It is first mentioned in the literature in the late 16th century, by which time it was very popular: The Sahasras contains 45 dhrupad song-texts for Kalyan and five for Iman-Kalyan. According to Venkatamakhin, Kalyan was a favourite melody to the Arabs, and Pundarika included Yaman among his 'Persian' Ragas.
