Revathi
Also known as: Revati, Revathy, Ravathi
Janya raga of melakarta 2 — audava-audava
Practise Revathi →Revathi evokes karuna rasa (compassion and poignant pathos) blended with a devotional, contemplative bhakti bhava; several sources describe it as calming and meditative, which is why it is traditionally sung in slokas, Vedic-style chanting, and toward the tranquil closing portions of a concert rather than as a centerpiece.
Gamaka
| Swara | Style | Hold allowed | Oscillation | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| S | steady | yes | — | Sa is the graha and nyasa anchor, generally rendered plain and held without oscillation. |
| r | jaru | yes | — | Rishabham is typically arrived at via a steep downward glide (jaru) from Madhyamam — a signature phrase of the raga — and can then be held briefly as a resting point. |
| m | jaru | yes | — | Madhyamam is a jeeva swara that often launches the raga's characteristic steep fall (jaru) down into Rishabham, giving the phrase its distinctive pathos. |
| P | steady | yes | — | Panchamam is a stable nyasa note anchoring phrases in the upper register, taken mostly plain. |
| n | kampita | no | -45 to 45 cents | Nishadham carries a prominent stand-alone oscillation described by sources as giving the raga its special colour and its karuna-rasa flavor; singing it as a flat held pitch is stylistically wrong. |
Common pitfalls
- Singing Rishabham as R2 instead of R1 — this single shift turns the phrase into Madhyamavati (S R2 M1 P N2), a very easy raga to lapse into since the rest of the scale is identical.
- Treating the Madhyamam-to-Rishabham motion as a plain stepwise interval instead of the raga's signature steep jaru (glide), which flattens its most characteristic phrase.
- Rendering Nishadham (N2) as a flat, steady pitch rather than with its 'stand-alone' oscillation — sources single this out as giving the raga its special colour, so omitting it makes the raga sound like a generic pentatonic scale.
- Borrowing Gandharam or Dhaivatham from the parent scale Ratnangi (or from nearby ragas); both are completely absent from Revathi in both arohana and avarohana.
- Over-Hindustani-izing the phrasing by importing chalan from the closely related Bairagi Bhairav, which has a different characteristic movement despite sharing the same swara set.
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revati_(raga) — Confirms scale S R1 M1 P N2 (audava-audava janya of Ratnangi, mela 2), absence of gandharam/dhaivatam, karuna rasa, use in Vedic chanting; also lists possible alternate parent melas.
- https://sujamusic.wordpress.com/revati/ — Independently confirms the same arohana/avarohana, Ratnangi parentage, and describes the mood as agonized sadness/bereftness and use in Vedic chanting; lists notable compositions.
- https://www.drmradhakrishnan.com/post/rare-raga-series-revathi-janya-of-mela-2-ragam-ratnangi — Detailed lakshana article confirming scale and parent mela, and specifically noting the 'steep fall from M1 to R1' and 'stand-alone oscillations' on N2, plus the R1-to-R2 relationship to Madhyamavati; karuna and bhakti rasa noted.
- http://andhakudi.blogspot.com/2018/11/ragam-revathi-and-raag-bairagi.html — Confirms scale and Ratnangi parentage, compares with Hindustani Bairagi Bhairav, and describes the calming/meditative effect used at concert close.
- https://www.carnatic.app/knowledge/ragams/revati — EXCLUDED AS CONFLICTING OUTLIER: this fetch returned R2 and parent Kharaharapriya/Madhyamavati-scale claims, which contradicts all four other independently-agreeing sources and the given swara set (R1); likely a mix-up with the similarly-named raga Revagupti or with Madhyamavati. Not used to support any claim above.
Parent scale
Revathi is a janya (derived) raga of the melakarta Ratnangi (melakarta 2) — it draws its swarasthanas from that parent scale.
Related ragas
Ragas that share Revathi's family, scale, or swaras: Ratnangi · Chakravakam · Hanumatodi · Natakapriya · Vakulabharanam · Vanaspati.