Princess Shahana: March 2010

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Little Mishti at the park.

Mishti is now old enough to ask to be taken to parks. She is particularly fascinated by the merri-go-rounds. Here are a few moments....

GYAAN..

Source: wikipedia - Link

Shahana is an Indian classical raga.

In Carnatic Music, Shahana is janya of the 28th mela Harikambodhi. It is a vakra sampurna raga and an upanga raga characterised by soft, weighty sancharas. Emphasizing the rishabham, panchamam, dhaivatham, and shadjam lend particular beauty to this raga during alapana. Gandharam is seldom rendered flat, and should never be given prominence in an alapana. The same goes for nishadham; it is almost always rendered with gamakam. There is, however, one particular sancharam where it can be rendered without gamakam to beautiful effect; singing or playing S N D ,,, in the lower octave, as seen in Thyagaraja's composition Giripai Nelakonna, accentuates the raga's colors well. Other than that, the raga is typically rendered in accordance with the arohana and avarohana given in most music books. However, a word of caution; this raga requires many years of experience at both performing and listening to other artists to master. Though singing the raga may seem simple, perfectly rendering the many subtle, delicate phrases and gamakas calls for a more practiced hand.

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Another meaning - In urdu, the word "Shahana" also means aristocracy.