Janya raga · parent: 22. Kharaharapriya

Kapi

◐ 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 D in the ascent; none in the descent; vakra (zigzag) in the descent; bhashanga (borrows N3, outside its parent).

Beginner's explanation

Kapi is a janya raga : it is derived from the melakarta Kharaharapriya (number 22), which means it takes its notes from that parent's scale. It also uses a note from outside the parent (N3), which makes it a Bhashanga raga: that note is an foreign note to the parent scale.

Going up, its notes are S R2 M1 P N3 S'; coming down, S' N2 D2 N2 P M1 G2 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♭, 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. Kapi is placed under Kharaharapriya (melakarta 22) by karnatik.com, the source for this page's parent. It uses all of the parent's notes.

A borrowed note. Kapi uses N3 although its parent has a different N. In theory this is what makes a raga bhashanga. No single melakarta holds all of its notes, so its parent is the one it is felt to grow from, by convention.

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 490, 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

• 22. Kharaharapriya

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

• Oho Dem Dem Adi·Telugu

Papanasam Sivan

• Annaiyum Tandaiyum Adi·Tamil
• Dhyaname Enadu Adi·Tamil
• Enna Tavam Tamil
• Enunakkinnum Adi·Tamil
• Ishananbar Tamil
• Kamantaka Tamil
• Panduranga Prabhuve Adi·Tamil
• Shodanai Shumaikka Tamil

Purandara Dasa

• Anu Kalavu Ata·Kannada
• Baiyiro Baiyiro Eka·Kannada
• Daniya Nodideno Ata·Kannada
• Etara Katapati Adi·Kannada
• Govinda Rama Ata·Kannada
• Hariyennu Hariyennu Ata·Kannada
• Hasiveyagutide Eka·Kannada
• Kanninolage Nodo Chapu·Kannada
• Kayabekenna Ata·Kannada
• Malava Toleya Eka·Kannada
• Manusa Janma Adi·Kannada
• Nandana Kandana Ata·Kannada
• Niniralu Namagetake Chapu·Kannada
• Olledolledu Adi·Kannada
• Poge Poge Adi·Kannada
• Ranga Dadhiya Adi·Kannada
• Vittala Salaho Adi·Kannada

Swati Tirunal

• Smarasi Pura Adi
• Vihara Manasa

Tyagaraja

• Anyayamu Seyakura Adi·Telugu
• Atade Dhanyudura Telugu
• Ennallu Ni Trova Telugu
• Inta Sowkhyamani Ne Adi·Telugu
• Mivalla Gunadosham Jhampa
• Pahi Kalyana Rama Adi·Telugu
• Pahi Mam Shri Jhampa·Telugu
• Pahi Parama Dayalo Adi·Telugu
• Rama Pahi Telugu
• Rama Raghukula Rupaka·Telugu
• Sundara Dasharatha Adi·Telugu

How this was checked

• Sources agree: Scale of Kapi: ascent S R2 M1 P N3 S'; descent S' N2 D2 N2 P M1 G2 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: Kapi is a janya of melakarta number 22, Kharaharapriya. Sources: Royal Carpet: Carnatic Ragas; Royal Carpet: Introduction to Carnatic Raga (the melakarta ragas). Parent per karnatik.com. The raga borrows N3 from outside the parent, which is what bhashanga means.