Janya raga · parent: 29. Dheerasankarabharanam

Bilahari

● Confidence: high 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: M and N in the ascent; none in the descent; upanga (only notes of its parent).

Beginner's explanation

Bilahari 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 G3 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 : M 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. Bilahari 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, Behag and Devagandhari use exactly the same set of notes as Bilahari 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 286 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
• Arabhi
• Atana
• Behag
• 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

• Ekadantam Bhajeham Chapu·Sanskrit
• Hatakeshvara Samraksa Rupaka·Sanskrit
• Kamaksi Varalaksmi Adi·Sanskrit
• Shri Balasubrahmanya Chapu·Sanskrit
• Shri Madurapuri Rupaka·Sanskrit
• Shri Sambashivam Adi·Sanskrit

Papanasam Sivan

• Aiya Nin Tamil
• Anjalenre Tamil
• Cittam Magizh Tamil
• Cittam Magizhvittidudu Adi·Tamil
• Endai Govindan Adi·Tamil
• Jaya Vitthala Tamil
• Karpagambike Rupaka·Tamil
• Karpakambike Tamil
• Nijamunnai Tamil
• Pahi Minalocani Tamil
• Sarvesha Adimaiyai Tamil
• Svami Unran Varnam Tamil
• Swami Undan Caranam Varnam Adi·Tamil

Purandara Dasa

• Baravva Bhagirathi Adi·Kannada
• Baride Hoyitu Ata·Kannada
• Elayya Shrihari Ata·Kannada
• Eli Mosara Ata·Kannada
• Enayito I Janake Ata·Kannada
• Garuda Gamana Ata·Kannada
• Hannu Bandide Kolliro Ata·Kannada
• Hariyendu Manadalli Triputa·Kannada
• Hege Madali Kannada
• Hetta Tayi Ata·Kannada
• Igaluppavadisidalu Ata·Kannada
• Indu Ninna Rupaka·Kannada
• Krsnedi Mangalam Ata·Kannada
• Marutane Elendu Kannada
• Narayana Enna Adi·Kannada
• Narayananemba Namava Nimma Ata·Kannada
• Ninna Magana Gali Chapu·Kannada
• Shrngaravagide Ata·Kannada
• Varaguru Upadesha Adi·Kannada
• Varijanabhana Chapu·Kannada
• Yarige Yaruntu Adi·Kannada

Swati Tirunal

• Aradhayami Chapu
• Gopala Bhaktim Adi
• Gopala Seveham Rupaka
• Jaya Sugunalaya
• Pahi Padmanabha Adi
• Santatam Bhajamiha Chapu
• Smara Sada Manasa Adi
• Vimukha Tatava Adi

Tyagaraja

• Intakannanandam Rupaka·Telugu
• Kanugontini Desadi·Telugu
• Kori Vaccitinayya Adi·Telugu
• Nivegani Nannevaru Telugu
• Sarasiruha Nayana Telugu
• Vasudeva Varaguna Adi·Telugu

How this was checked

• Sources agree: Scale of Bilahari: ascent S R2 G3 P D2 S'; descent S' N3 D2 P M1 G3 R2 S. Sources: Royal Carpet: Carnatic Ragas; List of Janya ragas. The ascent and descent printed by karnatik.com match the scale in Wikipedia's table.
• Sources agree: Bilahari 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).