Sindhubhairavi - Raga Ruminations

Sindhubhairavi is a raga that appeals to a wide range of listeners from the die-hard classical fan to the casual listener. Known as Bhairavi in Hindustani music this raga is often heard in the latter part of carnatic concerts.  Music producers have used it extensively in Indian movies. Here is an example of this raga heard in the song Enna Sattham for the Tamil movie Punnagai Mannan. How does the raga sound in Carnatic music? Listen to guitarist Prasanna playing the raga in the video below. Several years ago a short musical video appeared on television highlighting the theme of national integration. The booming voice of Bhimsen Joshi kicked off the song. It went on to showcase other famous Indians from nearly every part of the country. The song Mile Sur Mera Tumhara presented in multiple languages also featured several musicians, actors, sportsmen and others from different fields. It was based on the raga Sindhubhairavi. To me the song appealed on several levels. It not only kindled feelings of patriotism but illustrated the diverse nature of this melody. It showed that music has no boundaries. You can see the video below. Sindhubhairavi is considered (by many) to be a janya of the 8th Mela Hanumathodi. The reason being that it is similar to Hindustani raag Bhairavi. The scale reads as follows SR1G2M1G2PD1N2 SN2D1PM1G2R1S