Kapi (raga)

Kāpi is a popular rāga in Carnatic music, the classical music of South India.^[1] Kāpi is a janya rāgam with a meandering vakra scale. It is considered to be derived from the Kharaharapriya rāgam. Typically performed at slow and medium speeds, it is capable of inducing moods of devotion, pathos and sadness in the listeners. Kāpi is different from the Hindustani raag and thaat Kafi. The equivalent raag in Hindustani is Pilu

Structure and Lakshana

Kāpi is an audava-vakra sampoorna rāgam with an ascending pentatonic scale and a descending scale with seven notes, but not in a descending order. Use of Kakali Nishadam and Anthara Gandharam make it a Bhashanga Raagam.

• ārohaṇa : S R₂ M₁ P N₃ S
• avarohaṇa : S N₂ D₂ N₂ P M₁ G₂ R₂ S
• ārohaṇa : S R₂ M₁ P N₃ S
• avarohaṇa : S N₂ D₂ N₂ P M₁ P G₂ R₂ S

The presence of different nishāda swarās (N₂ and N₃) lends a distinctive quality to Kāpi, along with the fact that it uses a set of vakra swarās (N₂ D₂ N₂).

There is also a mild presence of shuddha daivatham (D₁) that renders an invaluable feeling of devotion to the raagam. This, and the presence of Anthara Gandharam (G₃) makes it difficult to pinpoint the exact nature of the avarohana of the raagam.

Compositions

Some of the popular compositions in Kāpi are:

• Jagadoddhārana Adisidaleshodaa' - Purandaradasa
• Mee Valla Gunadosham Emi - Thyagaraja
• Intha Sowkhya - Thyagaraja
• Enna thavam seydanai Yashoda - Papanasam Sivan
• Bhaja maadhavam anisham - Mysore Vasudevacharya
• Jaanaki ramana dasaratha nandana - Vanamaamalia Jiyar Swami
• Chinnanchiru Kiliye - Subramanya Bharathi - (Beginning-two stanzas)
• Kurai Ondrum Illai (in two charanam verses) - Chakravarti Rajagopalachari
• Karthikeyanai - Mayuram Viswanatha Sastri

References

1. Viswanathan, T.; Matthew Harp Allen (2004). Music in South India. Oxford University Press US. pp. 44–51. ISBN 978-0-19-514591-5.