Raghupriya (meaning The one dear to Raghu) is a ragam in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is the 42nd melakarta rÃÂgam (parent scale) in the 72 melakarta rÃÂgam system of Carnatic music. It is called Ravikriya in Muthuswami Dikshitar school of Carnatic music.
It is the 6th rÃÂgam in the 7th chakra Rishi. The mnemonic name is Rishi-Sha. The mnemonic phrase is sa ra ga mi pa dhu nu. Its ' structure (ascending and descending scale) is as follows (see swaras in Carnatic music for details on below notation and terms):
(the notes shuddha rishabham, shuddha gandharam, prati madhyamam, shatsruthi dhaivatham, kakali nishadham are used in this scale)
As it is a melakarta rÃÂgam, by definition it is a sampoorna rÃÂgam (has all seven notes in ascending and descending scale). It is the prati madhyamam equivalent of Tanaroopi, which is the 6th melakarta scale.
Raghupriya has a few minor janya rÃÂgams (derived scales) associated with it. See List of janya RÃÂgams for full list of scales associated with Raghupriya.
A few compositions set to the scale Raghupriya are:
This section covers the theoretical and scientific aspect of this rÃÂgam.
Raghupriya's notes when shifted using Graha bhedam, yields no other melakarta rÃÂgam, like all 6 rÃÂgams in the Rishi chakra (Salagam, Jalarnavam, Jhalavarali, Navaneetam and Pavani being the other 5). Only these rÃÂgams have a gap of 3 notes anywhere in their scale, between G1 to M2. Such a gap does not occur in any other melakarta by definition. Graha bhedam is the step taken in keeping the relative note frequencies same, while shifting the shadjam to the next note in the rÃÂgam.