Bhupalam (pronounced bhà «palam) is a rÃÂgam in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is a pentatonic scale (audava rÃÂgam or owdava rÃÂgam). It is a janya rÃÂgam (derived scale), as it does not have all the seven swaras (musical notes). It is also written as Bhoopalam.
It is considered an auspicious scale and a morning rÃÂgam. In Tamil music, this scale is called Puranirmai pann and some thevarams are set to this scale. It is also used for chanting slokas, folks songs, Kathakali music and other rituals. The equivalent scale in Hindustani music is Bhupal Todi.
Bhupalam is a symmetric rÃÂgam that does not contain, madhyamam or nishÃÂdham. It is a symmetric pentatonic scale (audava-audava ragam in Carnatic music classification â audava meaning 'of 5'). Its ascending and descending scale (' structure) is as follows:
The notes used in this scale are shadjam, shuddha rishabham, sadharna gandharam, panchamam and shuddha dhaivatham, as per Carnatic music notation and terms for the swaras. Bhupalam is considered a janya rÃÂgam of Shubhapantuvarali, the 45th Melakarta rÃÂgam, though it can be derived from 5 other melakarta rÃÂgams by dropping both the madhyamam and nishÃÂdham.
Bhupalam rÃÂgam lends itself for good elaboration and has a few compositions in both classical music and film music. Here are some popular songs composed in Bhupalam.
This section covers the theoretical and scientific aspect of this rÃÂgam.
Bhupalam's notes when shifted using Graha bhedham, yields two pentatonic rÃÂgams, Gambhiranata and Hamsanadam. Graha bhedham is the step taken in keeping the relative note frequencies same, while shifting the shadjam to the next note in the rÃÂgam. We get Hamsanadam by shifting the Shadjam to Shuddha Rishabham. For more details and illustrations of this concept refer Graha bhedham on Gambhiranata.