Janya raga · parent: 28. Harikambhoji

Kunthalavarali

● Confidence: high Last verified: 12 Oct 2026

Scale

Derived from the printed scale: audava in both ascent and descent (5 notes up, 5 down); R and G are omitted (varjya) in both directions; vakra (zigzag) in the ascent; upanga (only notes of its parent).

Beginner's explanation

Kunthalavarali 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 P D2 N2 D2 S'; coming down, S' N2 D2 P M1 S. Its ascent and descent each use 5 different notes (Audava ). Notes of the parent that it leaves out are Varjya : R and G in both directions. 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, 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. Kunthalavarali is placed under Harikambhoji (melakarta 28) by karnatik.com, the source for this page's parent. Of the parent's seven notes it does not use R2 and G3.

Other possible parents. Because Kunthalavarali leaves out some notes, 6 melakartas contain every one of its notes (Vanaspati, Natakapriya, Chakravakam, Kharaharapriya, Harikambhoji and Vagadheeswari). Books usually pick one by convention, and different books can pick differently.

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 162 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

• 28. Harikambhoji

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.

Papanasam Sivan

• Amale Amarargal Bhajan Tamil
• Bharata Punya Bhumi Adi·Tamil
• Karunanidhiye Kadaikkan Adi·Tamil
• Ma Padamboruham Tamil
• Maname Ni Adi·Tamil
• Padi Alutten Tamil
• Shivaya Namavenre Tamil
• Tamasama Amma Tamil
• Unnaittudikka Adi·Tamil

Tyagaraja

• Centane Sada Desadi·Telugu
• Kalinarulaku Desadi·Telugu
• Shara Shara Samaraika Adi·Telugu

How this was checked

• Sources agree: Scale of Kunthalavarali: ascent S M1 P D2 N2 D2 S'; descent S' N2 D2 P M1 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: Kunthalavarali 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).