Janya raga · parent: 29. Dheerasankarabharanam

Behag

◐ Confidence: medium Last verified: 12 Oct 2026

Scale

Derived from the printed scale: shadava in the ascent and sampurna in the descent (6 notes up, 7 down); varjya: R in the ascent; none in the descent; vakra (zigzag) in the ascent; upanga (only notes of its parent).

Beginner's explanation

Behag 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 G3 M1 P N3 D2 N3 S'; coming down, S' N3 D2 P M1 G3 R2 S. Its ascent uses 6 different notes and its descent 7. Notes of the parent that it leaves out are Varjya : R going up, none coming down. The path is Vakra (zigzag) going up: 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. Behag 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, Atana, Bilahari and Devagandhari use exactly the same set of notes as Behag 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
• Atana
• 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.

Gopalakrishna Bharati

• Adum Cidambaramo Adi·Tamil

Papanasam Sivan

• Amba Un Mel Tamil
• Bhagavatottama Adi·Tamil
• Bhajanai Sheivai Adi·Tamil
• Dhim Tana Udara Tillana Tamil
• Ellam Brahmamayam Adi·Tamil
• Kalpakambikai Ni Tamil
• Krsna Nama Tamil
• Sarasa Pumpadam Adi·Tamil
• Shri Madhava Desadi
• Shri Radha Tamil

Purandara Dasa

• Ada Hogona Rupaka·Kannada
• Arenu Maduvaru Ta Kannada
• Bailige Bailagidu Adi·Kannada
• Elliruva Tande Adi·Kannada
• Gopiya Bhagyavidu Adi·Kannada
• Hari Kunida Adi·Kannada
• Hontakari Nineve Chapu·Kannada
• Ita Mukhya Prana Ata·Kannada
• Jaganmohanane Adi·Kannada
• Kaliyugadolu Hari Adi·Kannada
• Manuja Shariravidenu Kannada
• Namma Deva Adi·Kannada
• Naneke Badavanu Kannada
• Nanu Bera Ata·Kannada
• Popu Hogana Adi·Kannada
• Yake Murkhanadiyo Adi·Kannada

Swati Tirunal

• Eri Aliri Adi
• Ilamarimannayane
• Jaladhisuta Ramanena Adi
• Kanha Kab Adi
• Main To Nahi Adi
• Na Nama Khileshanu Adi
• Rina Madanuta Adi
• Saramaina Rupaka·Telugu
• Saramaina J Rupaka
• Smara Janaka Chapu
• Suno Sakhi Adi

How this was checked

• Sources agree: Scale of Behag: ascent S G3 M1 P N3 D2 N3 S'; descent S' N3 D2 P M1 G3 R2 S. Sources: Royal Carpet: Carnatic Ragas. Only one source printed this scale (no match found in the second source), so it is not independently confirmed.
• Sources agree: Behag 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).