Brindavana Saranga

There is quite a bit of confusion about this raga. There are two raga names one comes across, Brindavani and Brindavana Saranga. Muthuswami Dikshithar composed in the version he called Brindavani but is now referred to as Brindavana Saranga. This version has only very minimal or no use of the kakali nishada (N3). The other version has liberal use of both kakali nishada (N3) and kaisika nishada (N2) and is called Brindavani currently.  In fact, it is easier to see them as two versions of the same raga.

Aarohanam (Ascending) : S R2 M1 P N2 (or N3 depending on source) S
Avarohanam (Descending) : S’ N2 P M1 R2 G2 R2 S

It is a janya raga, derived from Kharaharapriya which is 22nd on the Melakarta scale.

A gentle and emotionally appealing raga, it is used mainly for minor compositions and bhajans. Rangapura Vihara and Soundara Rajam Ashraye by Muthuswami Dikshithar and Kaliyuga Varadan by Periyasami Tooran are the compositions most Carnatic music listeners would be familiar with.

Note : The 12 notes in the octave are named as below. Please note that C is used as Sa for the sake of simplicity as the scale is relative in Carnatic Music. Also note that the scales paint only a superficial picture of the raga as the gamakas(ornamentations) are a very important part of a raga.