Sampurna Carnatic raaga

Bilahari

A bright, auspicious raaga of joy and celebration; sunny, upward-lifting phrases, often opens concerts and sounds at weddings.

joyful, bright, festive, auspicious

Bilahari is a sampurna (seven-note) raaga in the Carnatic tradition.

in the raaga jeeva (life note) nyasa (resting note)

or tap any lit note to hear it

arohana / ascending

S R2 G3 P D2 S

avarohana / descending

S N3 D2 P M1 G3 R2 S

How to hear it

Life notes / jeeva: R, D, N (chatushruti rishabha R2, chatushruti dhaivata D2, kakali nishada N3).
Resting notes / nyasa: Rishabha (R2), Panchama (P) and Dhaivata (D2).
Signature phrases / prayoga: Characteristic sancaras: GPDRS, NDDPMGR, and GPDM GR (especially blissful with bhava). Datu (leaping) and janta (paired-note) prayogas are common; janta pairs such as GG, PP, DD occur frequently. Arohana S R2 G3 P D2 S is audava; avarohana S N3 D2 P M1 G3 R2 S is sampurna.
Ornament / gamaka: Bilahari is a bhashanga raga: kaisiki nishada (N2) enters as an anya (foreign) svara in descending prayogas such as pdnp / pndp, contrasted with the scale's own kakali nishada (N3). Janta and datu phrasing are the characteristic ornamentation.

Mohanam (shares the pentatonic ascent)

also Shankarabharanam, Mohanakalyani, Garudadhvani, Desakshi

◐ Draft: the reference facts on this page are compiled from public sources and are pending review by a musician. Corrections welcome via GitHub.