ಕ್ಷಣಪ್ರಭಾ - Kshanaprabhaa

A simple, beautiful and haunting raga, Ratipatipriya has caught my attention for a long time now, and here is an attempt to group together some renditions in this raga. 1. Legend M. S. Subbulakshmi singing Katrinile Varum Geetham , in the movie Meera in 1945 , where she has even acted in the tile role of Meera. This song also has shades of Sindhu Bhairavi, but is primarily Ratipatipriya: 2. Rajesh Vaidhya on his Veena, with a dramatic fusion of Ratipatipriya: 3. Possibly the most well known kriti in this raga, Jagajjanani Shukapani Kalyani , by Ghanam Krishna Iyer , rendered by C. S. Sanjeev here: 4. Dr. Rukmini and Ramani singing Srinivasa Govinda in the same raga, a Papanasam Sivan creation: 5. Another legendary Carnatic singer and Tamil actor , M. K. Tyagaraja Bhagavathar singing a song in Ratipatipriya in the 1942 movie Sivakavi :

Can't seem to get enough of Raga Charukeshi, here is the 5th installment, as I find a few more gems, starting with a customary Malayalam movie song. Malayalam movies have embraced Charukeshi like no other it seems, and the "K J Yesudas - Lord Krishna - Charukeshi" combination seems to be just the road to heaven that one is looking for. Obviously, The great Swathi Tirunal looks to have contributed significantly to a revolution in Bhakti through raga Charukesi. 1 .  Yadukula Murali from the Malayalam movie Puthiya Mugham : 2. Ramin Djawdi composes an excellent number for the television series Game of Thrones , with clear inspirations from Charukeshi: 3. Violin Maestros Ganesh and Kumaresh depict the rainy season in raga Charukeshi: 4. Rajnikanth acts as Sri Raghavendra in the Tamil movie of the same name, and Yesudas gets an opportunity to sing in Charukeshi: Related Posts: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

More of Charukeshi magic: 1. A beautiful song "Kinara", sung by Mugdha Hasabnis, a great blend of Charukeshi and Ahir Bhairav: 2. UK Carnatic Ensemble at Darbar Festival 2009: Sisters Sindu and Indu rendering a quick and powerful Ragam Tanam Pallavi in Carnatic Charikeshi: 3. Dr. Rajkumar singing "Bombeyatavayya" from the movie "Shrti Seridaga", although not flawless Charukeshi, (you can recognize shades of Todi in between), it is a commendable effort by the legendary actor who was never trained in classical singing: 4. Possibly one of the earliest renditions of Charukeshi in cinema: "Manmatha Leelai" by M K Thyagaraja Bhagavathar, in the movie "Haridas (1944)": 5. The song "Tanhayee" from the movie "Dil Chahta Hai" has shades of Charukeshi, and it comes alive with all the background score involving the Australian instruments: 6. I can probably recognize Charukeshi in the middle of deep ...

Continuing to be spellbound by Charukeshi raga, about which I had blogged here , a few more of my recent favorites are here: 1. Dhrupad recital by the famous Gundecha Brothers , a Kabir bhajan: 2. Carnatic : The versatile Ghatam Karthik comes up with his own composition, "Charukeshi Sarasijalochani": 3. Fusion : MTV Coke Studio, where Bombay Jayashree sings in Raga Durga, while Ustad Rashid Khan brings in Charukeshi: 4. Movie : Song Krishna Kripa Sagaram from the Malayalam movie Sargam, sung by K. J. Yesudas and K.S. Chitra

Just noticed that the Carnatic music season has begun this week at Fort High School, Chamarajapete, Bangalore with the Rama Navami concerts, and that reminded me of the concert I attended a couple of months ago, of the "Heartbeat Ensemble", led by Ghatam S. Karthick, consisting of Embar S. Kannan on Violin, whizkid K. Sathyanarayana on Keyboard, Poongulam Subramanian on Mridangam and Arun Kumar on Drums. Needless to say, the renditions and experiments of the group were mesmerizing, and the lyricist in Karthik, composer in Kannan were also in full display. A couple of snippets that I recorded from the concert: Ghatam Karthick's Heart Beat Ensemble: Raga Jog from hmvprasanna on Vimeo . Ghatam Karthick's Heart Beat Ensemble: Medley from hmvprasanna on Vimeo .

The beauty of Raga Charukeshi has captivated me in the last couple months. This raga, which originated in Carnatic music, has made its way into Hindustani as well. The raga has been used to depict various moods, mainly the pinnacle of Bhakti. It also renders itself very well to both ecstasy and sorrow, which not many ragas can manage as seamlessly as Charukeshi. I have been digging into many of the songs and renditions of Charukeshi in carnatic music, hindustani, dhrupad as well as movie songs. Here is a collection. The favorite being the fusion by Anoushka Shankar and Nitin Sawhney. 1. Carnatic: Adamodi Galade sung by Charulatha Mani , where the composer, Saint Tyagaraja , begs Lord Rama to speak to him: 2. Movie: Song Shyam Teri Bansi Pukare from the movie Geet Gata Chal (1975) 3. Movie: Kripaya Palaya Shoure composed by Swathi Thirunal , rendered by the legendary K. J. Yesudas , in the Malayalam movie "Swathi Thirunal". 4. Hin...