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Varnam

Also: Varna, Padavarnam, Tanavarnam

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A structured composition that packs the main features of a raga into one short piece. Foundational in learning, and often the opening item of a concert.

Structure

Two halves. The first has the pallavi, anupallavi and a passage of notes only (muktayi swaram). The second has the charanam and the chittaswaras (also called ettugada swaras), passages of notes. A tana varnam is swara-focused with limited words; a pada varnam has words in every section, is slower and suits dance.

Parts, in order

  1. pallavi
  2. anupallavi
  3. muktayi swaram
  4. charanam
  5. chittaswaras (ettugada swaras)

Related forms

References for this page

Type at least two letters. Try a raga name, a tala, or a word like "gamaka".