Dhenuka (pronounced dhēnukā) is a rāgam (musical scale) in Carnatic music. It is the 9th Melakarta rāgam in the 72 melakarta rāgam system of Carnatic music.
It is called DhunibinnashadjamRagas in Carnatic music by Dr. S. Bhagyalekshmy, Pub. 1990, CBH PublicationsRaganidhi by P. Subba Rao, Pub. 1964, The Music Academy of Madras in Muthuswami Dikshitar school of Carnatic music.
Structure and Lakshana
It is the 3rd rāgam in the 2nd chakra Netra. The mnemonic name is Netra-Go. The mnemonic phrase is sa ri ga ma pa dha ni. Its structure (ascending and descending scale) is as follows (see swaras in Carnatic music for details on below notation and terms):
(Suddha Rishabham, Sadharana Gandharam, Suddha Madhyamam, Suddha 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 Suddha madhyamam equivalent of Shubhapantuvarali, which is the 45th melakarta.
Asampurna Melakarta Dhunibinnashadjam is the 9th Melakarta in the original list compiled by Venkatamakhin. The notes used in the scale are the same as Dhenuka.Shree Muthuswami Dikshitar Keerthanaigal, by A Sundaram Iyer, Music Book Publishers, Mylapore, Chennai
Janya Rāgams Dhenuka has a few janya rāgams (derived scales) associated with it. See List of Janya Rāgams for full list of rāgams associated with Dhenuka.
Notes
References