Bhupalam (pronounced bhūpalam, Sanskrit: भूपालम्, Kannada: ಭೂಪಾಲ, Tamil: பூபாளம்) is a rāgam in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is a pentatonic scale (audava rāgam or owdava rāgam). It is a janya rāgam (derived scale), as it does not have all the seven swaras (musical notes). It is also written as Bhoopalam.

It is considered an auspicious scale and a morning rāgam.^[1] In Tamil music, this scale is called Puranirmai pann and some thevarams are set to this scale.^[1] This rāgam is played in the mornings before opening the sanctum-sanctorum of temples, using nadaswaram.^[1] It is also used for chanting slokas, folks songs, Kathakali music and other rituals.^[1] The equivalent scale in Hindustani music is Bhupal Todi.^[2]

Structure and Lakshana[link]

Bhupalam scale with shadjam at C

Bhupalam is a symmetric rāgam that does not contain madhyamam or nishādham. It is a symmetric pentatonic scale (audava-audava ragam^[1][2] in Carnatic music classification – audava meaning 'of 5'). Its ascending and descending scale (ārohaṇa-avarohaṇa structure) is as follows:

• ārohaṇa : S R1 G2 P D1 S
• avarohaṇa : S D1 P G2 R1 S

The notes used in this scale are shadjam, shuddha rishabham, sadharna gandharam, panchamam and shuddha dhaivatham, as per Carnatic music notation and terms for the swaras. Bhupalam is considered a janya rāgam of Hanumatodi, the 8th Melakarta rāgam, though it can be derived from 5 other melakarta rāgams by dropping both the madhyamam and nishādham.

Popular Compositions[link]

Bhupalam rāgam lends itself for good elaboration and has a few compositions in both classical music and film music. Here are some popular songs composed in Bhupalam.

• Sadhu vibhatam (varnam) and other kritis, Nijadasanam prati and Samajendra composed by Swati Tirunal
• Annai Janaki by Arunachala Kavi
• Sadachaleshwaram by Muthuswami Dikshitar

Related rāgams[link]

This section covers the theoretical and scientific aspect of this rāgam.

[edit] Graha bhedham

Bhupalam's notes when shifted using Graha bhedham, yields another pentatonic rāgam, Gambhiranata. Graha bhedham is the step taken in keeping the relative note frequencies same, while shifting the shadjam to the next note in the rāgam. For more details and illustration of this concept refer Graha bhedham on Gambhiranata.

Scale similarities[link]

• Revagupti rāgam differs from Bhupalam only by the gāndhāram. It uses antara gāndhāram instead of sadharana gāndhāram and its ārohaṇa-avarohaṇa structure is S R1 G3 P D1 S : S D1 P G3 R1 S^[1][2]
• Bhauli rāgam uses an additional nishadam in descending scale, in comparison to Revagupti above. Its ārohaṇa-avarohaṇa structure is S R1 G3 P D1 S : S N3 D1 P G3 R1 S^[2]
• Karnataka Shuddha Saveri rāgam uses shuddha madhyamam in place of sadharana gandharam of Bhupalam. Its ārohaṇa-avarohaṇa structure is S R1 M1 P D1 S : S D1 P M1 R1 S

References[link]

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Ragas in Carnatic music by Dr. S. Bhagyalekshmy, Pub. 1990, CBH Publications
2. ^ ^{a b c d} Raganidhi by P. Subba Rao, Pub. 1964, The Music Academy of Madras

Shanmukhapriya and Haripriya (Telugu: షణ్ముఖప్రియ, హరిప్రియ), popularly known as the Priya Sisters, are eminent Carnatic music singers.^[1]

Early life[link]

They hail originally from Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh.They started learning Carnatic music from their father Sri V.V.Subba Ram at an early age.In order to nurture their musical talent, their father shifted base to Chennai. Later they became the disciples of the renowned duo Radha and Jayalakshmi who were disciples of the legendary G. N. Balasubramaniam. They learnt many nuances and subtleties of music during the five-year tenure under them including the advice that the singing should be so clear that the listener should be able to notate the entire kriti.^[2]

Career[link]

Improving their repertoire was a major project and learning, a continuous process. Hence they joined Professor T.R.Subramaniam. They learnt many pallavis and kritis from him.Currently, Shanmukhapriya and Haripriya are under the guidance of T. R. Subramaniam.

They are part of the trend of duo singing in Carnatic music, which started in the 1950s, with performers like Radha Jayalakshmi, Soolamangalam Sisters and later continued by Bombay Sisters^[3]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official site
• Artist Profiles : Shanmukha Priya and Hari Priya
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