Janya raga · parent: 29. Dheerasankarabharanam

Arabhi

◐ Confidence: medium Last verified: 12 Oct 2026

Scale

Derived from the printed scale: audava in the ascent and sampurna in the descent (5 notes up, 7 down); varjya: G and N in the ascent; none in the descent; upanga (only notes of its parent).

Beginner's explanation

Arabhi is a janya raga : it is derived from the melakarta Dheerasankarabharanam (number 29), which means it takes its notes from that parent's scale. It uses only notes of its parent, so it is an Upanga raga.

Going up, its notes are S R2 M1 P D2 S'; coming down, S' N3 D2 P M1 G3 R2 S. Its ascent uses 5 different notes and its descent 7. Notes of the parent that it leaves out are Varjya : G and N going up, none coming down.

If Sa is C on a keyboard, the notes it uses fall on C, D, E, F, G, A, B. This only shows where the notes sit: a raga is more than its notes, and its ornaments and phrases are not shown here.

A bit deeper

Its parent. Arabhi is placed under Dheerasankarabharanam (melakarta 29) by karnatik.com, the source for this page's parent. It uses all of the parent's notes.

Same notes, different raga. Kannada, Atana, Behag, Bilahari and Devagandhari use exactly the same set of notes as Arabhi but differ in the path, the ornaments or the phrases.

Why start here? How likely you are to meet it

●●○ (rating 2 of 3: 1 = met very often)

Rating 2 of 3 (editorial, a rough guide to how often you are likely to meet this raga): karnatik.com's tally of compositions per raga (based on a list of 38,000 songs) places it in the top 100, with 222 compositions. A 1 means met very often and 3 means met rarely. It says nothing about how hard the raga is to sing, which depends on its ornaments and is not rated here. The tally counts songs by raga name and dates from 2011.

Characteristic features

Key notes, characteristic phrases and ornaments are not recorded here yet: they could not be confirmed from two sources, and this site leaves them out rather than guess.

Where the notes sit

Related ragas

• 29. Dheerasankarabharanam
• Kannada
• Atana
• Behag
• Bilahari
• Devagandhari

Compare with another raga

Notable compositions (titles only)

Songs listed for this raga on karnatik.com by composers covered on this site. Lists are community-compiled, so a missing song does not mean it does not exist. Talas are as the source names them; no lyrics are reproduced.

Muthuswami Dikshitar

• Adi Purishwaram Adi·Sanskrit
• Adipurishvaram Sada Bhajeham Adi·Sanskrit
• Akhilandeshvaryai Namaste Adi·Sanskrit
• Ganarajena Raksitoham Chapu·Sanskrit
• Gaurishaya Namaste Triputa·Sanskrit
• Marakoti Koti Lavanya Jhampa·Sanskrit
• Shivakameshvaram Adi·Sanskrit
• Shri Saraswati Namostute Rupaka·Sanskrit
• Shvetaranyeshvaram Adi·Sanskrit

Papanasam Sivan

• Aiyappanai Panivom Tamil
• Durgalakshmi Saraswati Tamil
• Durgalaksmi Tamil
• Karpaka Valliyin Tamil
• Maha Prabho Tamil
• Mahaprabo Shri Adi·Tamil
• Svami Unnai Varnam Tamil

Purandara Dasa

• Adidano Ranga Adi·Kannada
• Candrakaviyanittu Ata·Kannada
• Elyadi Bande Adi·Kannada
• Gangadi Sakala Ata·Kannada
• Haridasara Sanga Ata·Kannada
• Hariyemba Namamrtada Ata·Kannada
• Indira Ramana Adi·Kannada
• Karedu Bhikseya Adi·Kannada
• Lalisadalu Magana Adi·Kannada
• Murahara Nagadhara Adi·Kannada
• Naravarya Bhimasena Triputa·Kannada
• Papigalolagella Ata·Kannada
• Ranga Kolalanudalagi Eka·Kannada
• Sharanu Sharanu Shri Chapu·Kannada
• Shrinivasananghari Seve Ata·Kannada
• Venkataramana Vedanta Ata·Kannada
• Venkatesha Bedikombe Rupaka·Kannada
• Yavagalu Helabarade Ata·Kannada

Swati Tirunal

• Narasimha Mamava Jhampa
• Padmanabha Pahi Padma
• Pahi Parvatanandini Adi·Sanskrit
• Shri Ramana Vibho
• Vande Maheshvaram Chapu

Syama Sastri

• Palayashu Mam Triputa

Tyagaraja

• Adugu Varamula Telugu
• Amba Ninnu Nammiti Adi·Telugu
• Cala Kallaladu Adi·Telugu
• Ipudaina Nannu Triputa·Telugu
• Na Moralanu Desadi·Telugu
• Ninne Nera Namminnu Triputa·Telugu
• O Rajivaksha Telugu
• O Rama O Rama Adi·Telugu
• Palukavemi Patita Telugu
• Patiki Mangala Adi·Telugu
• Sundari Ninu Telugu

How this was checked

• Partly agree: Scale of Arabhi: ascent S R2 M1 P D2 S'; descent S' N3 D2 P M1 G3 R2 S. Sources: Royal Carpet: Carnatic Ragas; List of Janya ragas. The two sources differ; see Variations & debates.
• Sources agree: Arabhi is a janya of melakarta number 29, Dheerasankarabharanam. Sources: Royal Carpet: Carnatic Ragas; Royal Carpet: Introduction to Carnatic Raga (the melakarta ragas). Parent per karnatik.com. Consistency check: every note of the raga is in the parent's scale (the parent's own scale is confirmed in two sources).