Atana

Atana is a Janya Raga derived from Dheera Sankarabharanam (Melakarta 29) in Carnatic music. Its swaras are drawn from the parent scale Dheera Sankarabharanam, and the way it selects, omits or bends those swaras is what gives it a character of its own. Use the arohanam and avarohanam above as your starting point: play the scale slowly on the harmonium, hold each swara until the pitch settles, and only then sing it back.

Rasa: veera and rowdra — valour and anger. Atana is a janya of Shankarabharanam with sharp, angular phrases and heavy gamaka on gandharam and nishadam. The wide leaps in its phrasing give it force; it does not move gently between swaras.

It is used for compositions expressing confrontation, protest and heroic assertion — Thyagaraja set several of his more forceful kritis in it. Atana braces rather than soothes.

Start with the plain arohanam and avarohanam in slow speed, holding each swara until it is steady. Once the scale is secure, practise it against a shruti drone and only then move to gamaka-laden phrases. Whenever a phrase feels uncertain, go back to the scale and check yourself swara by swara before building speed.