Madhyamavathi

Madhyamavathi is a Janya Raga derived from Kharaharapriya (Melakarta 22) in Carnatic music. Its swaras are drawn from the parent scale Kharaharapriya, 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: auspicious conclusion. Madhyamavathi is a janya of Kharaharapriya using five swaras and omitting gandharam and dhaivatam. It is built on the stable intervals of the scale, which gives it an unambiguous, settled quality.

It is the raga in which the concluding mangalam is sung, at concerts and at ceremonies alike, and it is considered inauspicious to end without it. It carries the sense of something completed and blessed on its way.

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.