raagawheel

Mela 45Vasu chakraM2

Shubhapantuvarali

also known as Subhapantuvarali, Sivapantuvarali, Pantuvarali

The name is the number

Shubhapantuvarali

Shusha5bhabha454 reversed45

The 'Sh' here is palatal śa = 5, not retroflex ṣa = 6. The name Pantuvarali is also applied to mela 51 (Kamavardhini) in some traditions.

Every mela name encodes its own number — how the katapayadi sutra works.

SSR1R1G2G2M2M2PPD1D1N3N3SS (upper octave)

SS (upper octave)N3N3D1D1PPM2M2G2G2R1R1SS

How to know it

The tradition's great voice of grief and longing — slow, weeping phrases that composers reach for at moments of deepest pathos; its rasa is karuna, shoka, bhakti.

Hear it in songs

  • Ennalu Urake

    Tyagaraja

    'How long must I stay idle?' — Tyagaraja pleading with Rama, a signature of the raga's anguished bhakti.

    YouTube Spotify

  • Sri Satyanarayanam

    Muthuswami Dikshitar · Rupaka

    Dikshitar's raganga krithi for this mela under its asampurna name, Sivapantuvarali.

    YouTube Spotify

  • Velanai Vere Gathi

    Koteeswara Iyer · Misra Chapu

    From Kanda Ganamutham, the 72-mela cycle on Muruga.

    YouTube Spotify

In film music

  • Vaigaraiyil Vaigai Karaiyil

    Payanangal Mudivathillai · 1982

    Cited by Charulatha Mani as textbook Shubhapantuvarali — the melody opens strikingly on the dhaivata before settling into the shadja.

    YouTube Spotify