My last post in the series was Lalitha, and now it is C for Charukesi.

This raga, I feel, has an emotional appeal in both Hindustani and Carnatic Classical. This is the 26th melakartha ragam in the scale chart, thus has all 7 swaras.

Aarohanam: S R2 G3 M1 P D1 N2 S

Avarohanam: S N2 D1 P M1 G3 R2 S

Charukesi is called Tarangini as well, and a raga that can emote both devotion and pathos to the listener easily.

Kritis in this raga are few, listed below are fewer still…

  • Aadamodigalathe by Thyagaraja
  • Kripaya Palaya by Maharaja Swati Tirunaal
  • Varnam by Lalgudi Jayaraman

The link below contains a swara piece that I had learnt to perform in an event called Nadabrahmam, composed by Chandrakanthji. I ended up not participating in the main event, still the song lingers…

Now to the only part that most of you read – movie songs in the raga Charukesi. There are some really popular ones, very versatile handling of the raga.

  • Vasantha Mullai from Sarangadara
  • Manmada Leelayai Vendraar Undo from Haridas
  • Aadal Kalaye from Sri Ragavendra
  • Thoodhu Selvadhaaradi from Singaravelan

And…. Udhaya Udhaya, a brilliant ARR composition from the movie with the same name… happy listening!

Next up is – V for… Until then,

Vid 🙂