A Journey Through Amritavarshini, The Raga of Rain!

Some names, words, music pieces and faces draw my attention for no obvious reasons. Though I enjoy singing, I have no knowledge regarding ragas or their compositions. However, the name Amritavarshini somehow made me curious to know more about it. Here's all that I could compile:

Amritavarshini is a janya raga (derived raga) of Chitambari, which is the 66th Melakarta raga in Carnatic music. Only five of the seven musical notes are used in this raga. They are Shadja, Antara Gandhara, Prati Madhyama, Panchama and Kakali Nishada. The other two notes (Rishabha and Daivata) are not used in the raga and its compositions. Amritavarshini has its equivalent in Hindustani classical music, which is Megh Malhar.

The Story of Amritavarshini

The famous Carnatic composer Sri Muthuswami Dikshithar once visited the drought-stricken land of Ettayapuram in Thirunelveli of Tamil Nadu. On a visit to a local temple there, he prayed to the goddess in this raga. He sang one of his compositions, Anandamrita, which was based on Amritavarshini. It is said that as he sang the line "Varshaya, varshaya, varshaya", it started raining heavily and the place got flooded soon. Later, the rains stopped only after he sang the raga replacing "varshaya varshaya varshaya" with the line "Sthambaya sthambaya sthambaya".

Here's an interesting blog post on the raga.

Tansen and Megh Malhar

There's an interesting story behind the magical musician Tansen and Megh Malhar. Tansen was once called to Akbar's court to sing and prove the magical powers of the raga Deepak. Tansen knew that the heat emanated from singing the raga would be enough to burn him to ashes. His daughter, who was an exceptional singer herself, suggested that he teach her Megh Malhar, so that she could sing the raga and save him from death by bringing rain.

On the day of the performance, Akbar's court was adorned with countless oil lamps. As the legend started singing, the court heated up, lighting the oil lamps. As the temperature of the hall rose and the surroundings were in flames, his daughter started singing the raga Megh Melhar, and it rained, extinguishing the flames and saving her father. 

Amritavarshini and Megh Malhar are ragas associated with joy and ecstasy. They are also believed to have healing powers to cure diseases related to heat. 

Thanks for reading this blog post, and I welcome you to contribute to the article if I've missed out on any interesting info on the ragas.