Ganamurti (pronounced gānamūrti, meaning the idol of music) is a ragam in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is the 3rd Melakarta rāgam in the 72 melakarta rāgam system of Carnatic music.
It is called Gānasāmavarāḷi in Muthuswami Dikshitar school of Carnatic music.
Structure and Lakshana
It is the 3rd rāgam in the 1st chakra Indu. The mnemonic name is Indu-Go. The mnemonic phrase is sa ra ga ma pa dha nu. Its ārohaṇa-avarohaṇa structure (ascending and descending scale) is as follows (see swaras in Carnatic music for details on below notation and terms):
Ganamurti scale with Shadjam at C
ārohaṇa: S R₁ G₁ M₁ P D₁ N₃ Ṡ
avarohaṇa: Ṡ N₃ D₁ P M₁ G₁ R₁ S
The notes used in this scale are shuddha rishabham, shuddha gandharam, shuddha madhyamam, shuddha dhaivatham, kakali nishadham.
As it is a melakarta rāgam, by definition it is a sampoorna rāgam (has all seven notes in ascending and descending scale). It is the shuddha madhyamam equivalent of Jhalavarali, which is the 39th melakarta.
Compositions
Gānamoorthe sri krishna by Thyagaraja is a popular composition sung in concerts, set to Ganamurti.
Pāhi Jagadİswarā by Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna in Ādi Tala
Brihadiswara rakshatuma in Eka tala by Muthuswami Dikshitar is a composition set to Gānasāmavarāḷi scale.
Palaya Govinda in Ādi tala is a bhajan composed by Sri Ganapathi Sachchidananda Swamiji.
