Pantuvarali is a very popular raga in Carnatic music. This raga is also known as Kamavardhini and Kashi Ramakriya in the Dikshithar school. Tyagaraja has composed many songs in this raga. Some of my favourites are Siva Siva Ena Radha, Aparama Bhakthi, Ninne Nera and Shambho Mahadeva. Muthuswamy Dikshithar’s Ramanathan Bhajeham is a slow-paced song while Bhadrachala Ramdas’s Enna Ganu Rama Bhajana is an eternal favourite with listeners.
Here is M.S.Subbalakshmi singing the poignant composition of Bhadrachala Ramdas.
Raga Pantuvarali corresponds to Raag Puriya Dhanashri in Hindustani music. This is an evening raga and sung at the early part of the concert. Musicians presenting Carnatic-Hindustani jugalbandhi concerts often select Pantuvarali/Puriya Dhanashri as one of the ragas for their performance.
Here’s a beautiful rendition of raag Puriya Dhanashri by Kishori Amonkar.
It’s always fascinating to see how music producers transform an ancient melody on the silver screen to a tune that makes it appealing to the masses. The song He Rama from the Hindi movie Rangeela is based on this classical raga.
The romantic song Rojavai Thalattum Thendral from the Tamil movie Ninnaivellam Nithya was based on raga Pantuvarali.
For those who want details, Pantuvarali is the 51st Melakartha or parent raga and the scale reads as follows. SR1G3M2PD1N3S SN3D1PM2G3R1S
Chitra Srikrishna 