Kamavardhani


Kamavardhini is a rāgam in Carnatic music. It is the 51st Melakarta rāgam in the 72 melakarta rāgam system of Carnatic music. It is also referred by the name Pantuvarāḷi, although purists prefer to designate it as Kamavardhini. It literally means "that which increases desire".
This rāgam is very popular with musicians who typically sing it in the beginning of a concert. It is called Kāshirāmakriya in the Muthuswami Dikshitar school. The Hindustani music equivalent of Kamavardhini is the Poorvi thaat/Puriya Dhanashree.

Structure and Lakshana

It is the 3rd rāgam in the 9th chakra Brahma. The mnemonic name is Brahma-Go. The mnemonic phrase is sa ra gu mi pa dha nu. Its structure is as follows :
It is a sampoorna rāgam – a rāgam that has all seven swaras. This rāgam differs from the 15th melakarta rāgam Mayamalavagowla, which is the rāgam taught to a beginner in Carnatic music, only by the madhyamam. Kamavardani is the prati madhyamam equivalent of Mayamalavagowla.

''Janya'' rāgams

It has a few minor janya rāgams associated with it. See List of janya rāgams for full list of rāgams associated with it.

Popular compositions

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Related rāgams

This section covers the theoretical and scientific aspect of this rāgam.
Kamavardani's notes when shifted using Graha bhedam, yields Kanakangi. Graha bhedam is the step taken in keeping the relative note frequencies same, while shifting the shadjam to the next note in the rāgam. See further details and an illustration of Graha bhedam on Kanakangi.