Kanakangi

Kanakangi (pronounced Kanakāngi, sanskrit कनकांगि, tamil கனகாங்கி) is a rāgam (musical scale) in Carnatic music (South Indian classical music). It is the 1^st Melakarta rāgam in the 72 melakarta rāgam system of Carnatic music.

It is called "Kashiramakriya" in the Muthuswami Dikshitar school "Ragas in Carnatic music" by Dr. S. Bhagyalekshmy, Pub. 1990, CBH Publications] "Raganidhi" by P. Subba Rao, Pub. 1964, The Music Academy of Madras] .

tructure and Lakshana

It is 1^st ragam in the 1^st Chakra "Indu". It has all suddha swaras. The mnemonic name is "Indu-Pa". The mnemonic phrase is "sa ra ga ma pa dha na" .

Its IAST|ārohaṇa-avarohaṇa structure (ascending and descending scale) has all suddha swaras, as follows (see "swaras in Carnatic music" for details on below notation and terms):
*IAST|ārohaṇa: S R1 G1 M1 P D1 N1
*IAST|avarohaṇa: S N1 D1 P M1 G1 R1

(Suddha Rishabham, Suddha Gandharam, Suddha Madhyamam,Suddha Dhaivatham, Suddha Nishadham)

It is a sampoorna rāgam - a rāgam that has all seven swaras (notes).

Janya ragams

"Kanakangi" has a few "janya" ragams associated with it, of which "Karnataka suddha saveri" and "Lavangi" (a recent addition to Carnatic music by Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna) are a little popular. See "List of Janya Ragas" for a full list of Kanakangi's janyas.

Popular Compositions

"Shree Gananatham Bhajamyaham" is one of the few compositions in this austere ragam, by Thyagaraja, one of the most important composers in the history of Indian music.

The popular Tamil movie Sindhu Bhairavi has a song "Moham ennum", in this ragam.

Related rāgams

This section covers the theoretical and scientific aspect of this rāgam.

Kanakangi's notes when shifted using Graha bedham, yields Kamavardhini. Graha bedham is the step taken in keeping the relative note frequencies same, while shifting the Shadjam to the next note in the rāgam. See further details and an illustration of Graha bedham on Kanakangi.