Chitrambari (pronounced chitrÃÂmbari) is a ragam in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is the 66th Melakarta rÃÂgam in the 72 melakarta rÃÂgam system of Carnatic music. It is called Chaturangini in Muthuswami Dikshitar school of Carnatic music. It is the prati madhyamam equivalent of Naganandini, which is the 30th melakarta.
It is the 6th rÃÂgam in the 11th chakra Rudra. The mnemonic name for this rÃÂgam is Rudra-Sha. The mnemonic phrase is sa ra gu mi pa dhu nu. Its structure (ascending and descending scale) is (see swaras in Carnatic music for details on below notation and terms):
(the notes in this scale are chathushruti rishabham, antara gandharam, prati madhyamam, shatshruti dhaivatam, kakali nishadam)
Since it is a melakarta rÃÂgam, by definition it is a sampoorna rÃÂgam (it has all 7 notes in ascending and descending scale).
Chitrambari has a few janya rÃÂgams (derived scales) associated with it, of which Amritavarshini is very popular. List of janya rÃÂgams contains the full list of rÃÂgams associated with Chitrambari and other melakartas.
A few compositions set to Chitrambari are:
The theoretical and scientific aspect of Chitrambari are described below.
Chitrambari's notes when shifted using Graha bhedam, yields 3 other melakarta rÃÂgams, namely, Shanmukhapriya, Shoolini and Dhenuka. Graha bhedam is the step taken in keeping the relative note frequencies same, while shifting the shadjam (Sa) to the next note in the rÃÂgam. For further details and an illustration refer Graha bhedam on Shanmukhapriya.