Indian Rāgas 101: Arana

Adana? আড়ানা? I prefer calling it Arana because that’s how I would pronounce it. And also because it exemplifies the fact that in spite of the abstract, theoretical interchangeability of their constituent notes, raags can be as different as oil and water.

Thanks Jacub Gomez (pexels.com)

If you hadn’t noticed, I am still continuing with the Asavri thaat, which is roughly equivalent to a minor scale of Western music. Arana follows suite and ascends like

S R g M P N P S`

the descent is very similar to Darbari

S` d n P M g R S

But by the very nature in which it is presented, nothing sounds remotely close to Darbari. Whereas Darbari has a grave, aged feel (partly because of the fact that it tends to stay in lower and lower-half of middle ocatve), Arana has a boundless, almost cosmic feel to it. The reason might be that Arana operates on the higher end of the octave, and is relatively staccato in nature, with simple, deft movements.

[embed]A Rabindrasangeet in Arana: “Your words traverse through space-time” (Rabindranath Thakur)

The astronomical feel of Arana is compounded by the time for the raag: midnight, 12–3. This shyamasangeet captures the laser like movement of Arana, from high to shrill, always restless, perpetually accelerating notes of Arana.

[embed]Devotional song — Chamunda is the fearsome deity of the night (but I am getting ahead of myself)