sAvEri - Part 1

History and lakShaNa

This fairly ancient janya of the mALavagauLa mELa has been extensively handled by all major composers, right from the pre-Trinity times of Annamacharya, Purandaradasa, Kshetrayya, through the Trinity and post-Trinity period. We do find scattered references in ancient works like sangIta samaya sAra, sangIta makaranda and sangIta ratnAkara, of names such as sAvEri, sAvari, sauviri; nevertheless, the raga seems to have developed into an established melody as we know currently, only in the pre-Trinity era.

Concrete mention of sAvEri as an auDava-sampUrNa janya of the mALavagauLa mELa, is found in caturdaNDiprakAshika of Venkatamakhin (1660), and later in sangIta sArAmrita of Tulaja (circa 18th century). An earlier work sangIta sudhA authored by Govinda Dikshitar, the father of Venkatamakhin, classifies sAvEri under gurjari mELa, but as an auDava-auDava scale that is akin to modern ‘karnATaka shuddha sAvEri’. It is probable that both the sAveri-s co-existed, and the prefix ‘shuddha’ was later on added to the auDava-auDava variety. Both were considered as janyas of mALavagauLa mELa.

After Venkatamakhin, Sahaji (1684-1712) also writes about sAvEri in his ‘rAga lakShaNamu’, as an auDava-sampUrNa janya of mALavagauLa mELa. He classifies it as a dEsi raga, and says gAndhAra and niShAda are ‘langhaNa’ in the ArOha. The ‘svaragati’ or the sequence of the avarOhaNa is orderly, i.e., the svaras descend in a straight, orderly fashion. Tulaja too reflects the same ideas in his sangIta sArAmrita.

However, Subbarama Dikshitar, follows the footsteps of caturdaNDiprakAsika, and refers to sAvEri as a bhAShAnga rAga with ShaDja as graha, amsa and nyAsa. He says that ShaDja, riShabha, madhyama, dhaivata and niShAda are dIrgha svaras, and are also jIva svaras.

Over the centuries, sAvEri has evolved into a classic rakti rAga that has acquired great sheen at the hands of all the members of the Trinity. It is a janya of the 15th mELa mAyAmALavagauLa. The svaras are ShaDja, shuddha riShabha, shuddha madhyama, pancama, shuddha dhaivata, antara gAndhAra and kAkali niShAda.
The scale:
SR1M1PD1S’
S’N3D1PM1G3R1S

sAvEri is a tristAyi raga and is at its best in viLamba kAla and madhyama kAla. It has been generally marked as a morning melody. It is a practical experience that sometimes gAndhAra and niShAda are rendered at slightly lower shrutis in certain descending phrases, and this contributes greatly towards the rAga’s elegance.

For instance, in the phrase S’S’NPDNPD~,, the first niShAda is rendered in its svastAna, whereas the second N takes a slightly lower shruti. It is for the purpose of force and embellishment that G and N are intoned at trishruti positions (ex: the madhyama kAla phrase S’ndpmgr), and this not only enriches the rAga by facilitating an aesthetically gripping gamaka network, but also contributes towards establishing a unique melodic individuality.

Subburama Dikshitar in his sangIta sampradAya pradarshini has a different opinion on this. He says that at many places, the gAndhArA is intoned on the G2 and the niShAdA on the N2 sthAnA on the vINA. In fact Subburama Dikshitar says that only in the prayOgas MGR, GMG and PMGM does G3 occur and only in the prayOgas SNSND does N3 occur. In all other phrases, only G2 and N2 occur.

This is supported by the fact that scions of the Dhanammal family sing the Dikshitar kriti srI rAjagOpAla in this manner. In fact nowhere in the notation of shrI rAjagOpAla given in the SSP does either G3 or N3 occur. It is G2 and N2 all the way. Subburama Dikshitar further says that excepting rarely, ‘those who know sampradAyA employ only G2 and N2 while singing varNams or kritis’. This is the reason why Subburama Dikshitar has mentioned sAvEri as a bhAShAnga raga.

Another aspect of ornamentation that is unique to sAvEri, is its madhyama gamaka. It is characterised by dIrghatva that goes with a gentle gamaka, which is a combination of jAru and nokku. For instance, sometimes a simple M,GR could also be interpreted as pdM^,(p)mgR, as that is how the madhyama is actually rendered at these places. madhyama is embellished in various other ways too-either as a plain note (as in RMPD), with jArus (as in SR/M,GR and N\D\M\G\R), or even with a simple nOkku from pancama followed by kampita gAndhAra (as in pM^G~,,R).

A profusion of pancama varjya prayOgas, S-varjya, N-varjya, etc. in the descent are conspicuous. Some typical sAvEri mUrcanas are:

SRMPD\M\G\R- SRGSR~,,- SRPM,G,,~R - D\M\^G\RMPD,,- MPD/R’^S’N\PD~,, - MPD/G’R’S’,,r’g’r’s’npD~,,- R’^S’^D~,,,- 
RM-MD-DR’ - G’\R’\N\D\M\G\R.

Indicators: tAra stAyi(apostrophe); ascending & descending glides(/, \ );nOkku (stress on a particular svara -- ^); kampita (~ ); double speed (lower case svaras); anusvara (svara in parantheses)

sAvEri is one of the most beautiful rakti ragas. It is a seemingly simple melody, but it requires a certain seasoned and experienced approach to project the beauty of the rAga. The better the lakShya jnAna is, the better the perception and understanding of such ragas. With practical experience, any discerning student can mark the identity of sAvEri even through such simple phrases as “/M,,^G,,R, “ or “sNDD~,,” or even with a swaying “S’D~,,”.

sAlanganATa and malahari are allied janyas. sAvEri is probably the most widely used janya of mAyAmALavagauLa mELa. There are various classic compositions that speak of the eloquence of sAvEri as a rAga that is capable of portraying several sentiments like bhakti, shrngAra, etc., though the underlying rasa is kAruNya.

This may be attributed to the absence of tIvratva in the intonation of svaras, and also to the wide svara intervals between R1 –M1 and D1-S in the ascent, that create a certain soft mood. The rAga offers tremendous scope in the realm of manOdharma sangIta also.

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Published on ^6th March, 2004