005 : Sindhu Bhairavi - An Overview

Raaga: Sindhu Bhairavi
Janya : nATakapriya
Aarohanam : S R2 G2 M1 G2 P D1 N2 S
Avarohanam: N2 D1 P M1 G2 R1 S N2 S
Sample: Sindhu Bhairavi (By Flute Bhaskaran..amidst Pyramids)
Description
Sindhu Bhairavi is said to have it’s orgin is from Hindustani, and is a morning Raga according to the North Indian Musical tradition .It is a variant of Raga Bhairavi even though it retains all the mannerisms of the parent Bhairavi however it’s rishaba is augmented to its shuddha rishaba shade. These days Sindhu Bhairavi is sung with both the rishabs and both the dhaivatas.Another way of looking at it is as a Sindhu from southern classical view point is as Variant of Sindhu(People who know about this in deatil can share them) .Other Sindhu Variants are sindu dhanyAsi,sindu gowri,sindu kannaDa,sindu mandAri,sindu rAmakriyA,sindu shuruTTi(Source:www.Karnatik.com). Coming back to Sindhu Bhairavi.It blends a folk and classical musicthat could be appreciated even by a common man without much of information on raaga.There are also very few krities in the parent Naatakapriyaa. It admits of many semi-classical tunes and is often used towards the end of a Carnatic concert.
The following are songs in sindhubhairavi.kannane kandaayo,bhajare,smaram vaaram vaaram,,kalyanagopalam,ninnaye rathi entru,shanmugham bhaje,viswesware darsan kar,bhajabhaja maanasa,raamachandraprabhu,manathirkkukantha,karunai daivame,etc.This is a sankararaaga.used for minor classical songs.acording to dr s.ramanaathan sindhubhairavi was a janya from desyathodi.Naatakapriya is a raaga with the same notes as thodi except a chathusruthy daivatha and sindhubhairavi of ancient yore was sung like that
Trivia

1. It is interesting that there appear to be absolutely no krities in this raaga (sampurna janya of Naatakapriyaa) by the Trinity.
2. Sindhubhairavi is sung as a janya of Thodi.Some also say that it is natabhairavijanya.
3. Swathithirunaal,pattanam subramanyaiyer,thanjavoor sankarayyar,etc have some compositions in it.There is also a thillana to lalgudy jayaraman's credit,and bajare gurudaivam of balamuralikrishna.
4. There was another sindhubhairavi,of naatakapriyajanya in ancient times which was a madhyaraaga and it is not sung by musicians usually.
5. Milen Sur Mera Tumhara : (Referenced from Musical Experts) The national integration song was composed in Sindhu Bhairavi . It has same lyrics sung in different Indian Languages in the same raaga variants according to local blend. Composed by Louis Banks. Lyrics by Piyush Pandey

Some Discussions
There are people who say by no means can Sindhu Bhairavi can be considered a janya of Natakapriya. Since Sindhu Bhairavi, takes its roots from Hindustani Bhairavi, can at best be described a janya of mELa 8, similar to its classification in Hindustani under Bhairavi
Non Cinema Songs

1. Venkatachala nilayam , Vaikunta Pura vasam ;Purandaradasa
2. rAma rAma Prayaga Ranga Dasa; Aadi tALam
3. bhaja bhaja mAnasa ; swAti tiruNAL ; Aadhi tALam
4. kAntamAm kathirkAmam ; Mayuram Viswanatha Sastri ;Eka tALam
5. Ramachandra PrabhO ; Swathi thirunal
6. Karunai Deivamey; Madurai Tsrinivasan; Aadi tALam

Cinema Songs

1. Jeena Yahan Marna Yahan ;Mera Naam Joker; Shankar Jaikishen
2. Jiyan Jale Jaan Jale ; Dilse; AR Rehman
3. Poongatru Pudhirandhu ; Moondram Pirai ; Illayaraja
4. Ennai Yarendru enni enni ; Paalum Pazhamum; Viswanathan Ramamoorthy
5. Kalyanamalai Kondadum Penney ; Pudhu Pudhu Arthangal; Illayaraja

Anecdotes associated with Raaga
Paapanaasam Sivan had written the lyrics as 'Mugamadhu(mugam+adhu) chandra bimbamO'. MKT was rehearsing the song for the film. Along came the famous comedian N.S.Krishnan. As soon as MKT had sung the first line, 'mugamadhu chandra bimbamO', he followed up immediately with, 'Esu enna bimbamO?':-) This made Paapanaasam Sivan to change the first line into, 'vadhanamE chandra bimbamO' (Referenced from Sindhu Bhairavi Analysis Discussion)