Janya raga · parent: 28. Harikambhoji

Kamas

● Confidence: high 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

Kamas is a janya raga : it is derived from the melakarta Harikambhoji (number 28), 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 M1 G3 M1 P D2 N2 S'; coming down, S' N2 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. Kamas is placed under Harikambhoji (melakarta 28) by karnatik.com, the source for this page's parent. It uses all of the parent's notes.

Same notes, different raga. Balahamsa, Chayatarangini, Deshakshi, Guharanjani and Eeshamanohari use exactly the same set of notes as Kamas 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 495, 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

• 28. Harikambhoji
• Balahamsa
• Chayatarangini
• Deshakshi
• Guharanjani
• Eeshamanohari

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.

Annamacharya

• Shringara Muritivi Jhampa

Muthuswami Dikshitar

• Dandanathaya Raksa Mam Adi·Sanskrit
• Sadanane Sakalam Adi·Sanskrit
• Santana Gopalakrsnam Rupaka·Sanskrit
• Sarasa Dala Nayana Tisra Triputa·Sanskrit
• Shri Svaminathaya Tisra Rupaka·Sanskrit

Papanasam Sivan

• Anbilaiye Rupaka·Tamil
• Devadevan Padam Adi·Tamil
• Gopalane Deivamam Adi·Tamil
• Idadu Padam Tamil
• Kadaikkan Parvai Tamil
• Kadaikkan Parvaiyadu Adi·Tamil
• Kapalishane Tamil
• Manida Janmam Rupaka·Tamil
• Parpala Tamil
• Parpala Porpani Kanni Rupaka·Tamil
• Rama Nama Amrta Tamil
• Shendil Valar Kannigal Tamil
• Tayumanavane Tamil
• Tiruvalar Tamil
• Tiruvalar Mayilaiyun Kanni Adi·Tamil

Purandara Dasa

• Alli Nodalu Rama Rupaka·Kannada
• Candracuda Adi·Kannada
• Entha Punyave Gopi Ninage Ata·Kannada
• Hege Madabeko Adi·Kannada
• Inneka Yamana Adi·Kannada
• Kanda Bedavo Ata·Kannada
• Karedare O Adi·Kannada
• Mareya Beda Manave Rupaka·Kannada
• Murutiyane Nilliso Rupaka·Kannada
• Nanda Tanaya Kannada
• Narayana Enniro Ata·Kannada
• Ni Tande Na Bande Chapu·Kannada
• Noda Baradu Adi·Kannada

Swati Tirunal

• Palaya Mamayi Adi·Sanskrit
• Sa Vama Rusa Adi
• Sarasa Samamukha Adi
• Shrisha Padmanabha Eka

How this was checked

• Sources agree: Scale of Kamas: ascent S M1 G3 M1 P D2 N2 S'; descent S' N2 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: Kamas is a janya of melakarta number 28, Harikambhoji. 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).