Janya raga · parent: 29. Dheerasankarabharanam

Atana

○ Confidence: low (needs checking) 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 D in the ascent; none in the descent; vakra (zigzag) in the descent; upanga (only notes of its parent).

Beginner's explanation

Atana 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 N3 S'; coming down, S' N3 D2 P M1 P 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 D going up, none coming down. The path is Vakra (zigzag) coming down: some notes are visited out of straight order.

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

Why start here? How likely you are to meet it

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

Rating 1 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) gives it 417, one of the most-composed ragas. 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
• Arabhi
• 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

• Brhaspate Tarapate Brahmajate Tisra Triputa·Sanskrit
• Herambaya Namaste Rupaka·Sanskrit
• Mahalingeshvaraya Adi·Sanskrit
• Shri Daksinamurtim Khanda Eka·Sanskrit
• Shri Madhurambikaya Chapu·Sanskrit
• Shri Vaidyanatham Adi·Sanskrit
• Tyagarajo Virajite Rupaka·Sanskrit
• Vamanka Sthitaya Khanda Eka·Sanskrit

Papanasam Sivan

• Appanum Ammaiyum Tamil
• Kannan Maligaikke Tamil
• Ni Irangayenil Adi·Tamil
• Shri Rama Nama Tamil
• Tannai Bhajikkalagada Tamil
• Tiruvarul Tara Tamil
• Ulaga Vazhilum Tamil

Purandara Dasa

• Sohamenna Bedelo Ata·Kannada

Swati Tirunal

• Dharma Marga Dhruva
• Kanta Tava Mp Adi
• Sadhu Jane Rupaka
• Sarasayata Locana Adi
• Sarasija Nabha Kim Pv Adi
• Shri Kumara Nagaralaye Adi
• Valaputala Vashama P Chapu

Tyagaraja

• Amma Dharma Samvardhani Adi·Telugu
• Atta Balukudu Adi·Telugu
• Bhajana Seya Rada Rupaka·Telugu
• Cede Buddhi Manura Adi·Telugu
• E Papamu Triputa·Telugu
• Ilalo Pranatarti Adi·Telugu
• Kattu Jesinavu Adi·Telugu
• Mummurtulu Gumigudi Adi·Telugu
• Narada Ganalola Adi·Telugu
• Rama Namamu Adi·Telugu
• Rara Raghuvira Adi·Telugu
• Shripapriya Desadi·Telugu

How this was checked

• Sources disagree: Scale of Atana: ascent S R2 M1 P N3 S'; descent S' N3 D2 P M1 P G3 R2 S. Sources: Royal Carpet: Carnatic Ragas; List of Janya ragas. The two sources differ; see Variations & debates.
• Sources agree: Atana 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).