Healing Ragas

Carnatic music, is the predominant classical music form of South India.  Like Hindustani music which is prevalent in North India, Carnatic music is raga and tala based.  Raga is the melody while tala is the rhythm.  There  is no all emcomapssing definition for the term ‘raga’.  The closest one can get to defining the raga concept is to perhaps liken it to a set of prescribed building blocks(notes or swaras) available to create a melody. The prescription also states how the notes should ascend and descend; termed as arohana and avarohana, how the notes have to be ornamented with grace notes or gamakas and what notes within the melody have to be stressed and notes that have to skimmed across.

Most Indian film music are raga based.  Some songs use more than one raga in a song.  Indian films are largely based like Broadway plays where the characters often break out into songs frequently to convey a situation or condition.  The choice of raga  used in the song is based on the emotion the raga portrays.  Each raga has has a unique ‘mood’ signature which is known to alter the mood of the listener.

Raga have also been documented to alter the weather.  It is said that the Raga Amritavarshini is known to bring rain.  Ragas have also been known to have curative properties.  It is this power I am going to dwell at length in my blogs to come.

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