🌧️ Ilaiyaraaja’s Rain Ragas: Amruthavarshini and the Unique Hindustani Encounter

Music often mirrors nature, yet few composers make it feel as though the elements themselves are speaking. In Ilaiyaraaja’s repertoire, Amruthavarshini and Miyan Ki Malhar do exactly that — not just melodies, but textures of the sky, clouds, and the subtle scent of rain.

While Amruthavarshini forms the backbone of his cinematic rain palette, there is one extraordinary instance where Ilaiyaraaja ventures into Hindustani ragas and personally performs them, creating a rare intersection of classical discipline and cinematic soul.

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☔ Amruthavarshini — The Rain That Shimmers

The five-note Amruthavarshini carries a natural brightness — a sound that feels like water meeting light. Ilaiyaraaja found in it a melodic simplicity that could express joy, prayer, and the first rush of rain.

Across his Tamil and Telugu works, he returned to this raga again and again, creating some of his most tender and radiant pieces:

• Ippodhenna Thevai – Makkal Aatchi
• Kathirundha Malli Malli – Mallu Vaetti Minor
• Kurise Verijallule – Gharshana
• Thoongatha Vizhigal – Agni Natchathiram
• Mazhaikoru Dhevane – Sri Raghavendra
• Vanin Devi Varuga – Oruvar Vaazhum Aalayam

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🎼 Aavedana – Aalapana (1986): The Hindustani Voyage

If Amruthavarshini is Ilaiyaraaja’s sunlight, Aavedana is his monsoon sky. Conceived as a Ragamalika, it brings together both Carnatic and Hindustani colours. Here, Ilaiyaraaja sings the jathis and performs the Hindustani ragas himself, while SP Balasubrahmanyam and S. Janaki carry the Carnatic sections.

In my understanding, this is the only song where Ilaiyaraaja has used the two Hindustani raagas — Bahaar and Miyan Ki Malhar.

The Six Ragas of Aavedana

• Madhukauns – Sa Ga₂ Ma₂ Pa Ni₂ Sa / Sa Ni₂ Pa Ma₂ Ga₂ Sa A reflective opening that carries a serene and introspective texture, serving as the meditative base of the composition.
• Kamboji – Sa Ri₂ Ga₃ Ma₁ Pa Dha₂ Sa / Sa Ni₂ Dha₂ Pa Ma₁ Ga₃ Ri₂ Sa Evokes a grand, traditional Carnatic mood, providing a smooth transition from repose to emotion.
• Pantuvarali – Sa Ri₁ Ga₃ Ma₂ Pa Dha₁ Ni₃ Sa / Sa Ni₃ Dha₁ Pa Ma₂ Ga₃ Ri₁ Sa Brings devotional intensity, with phrases that lean towards yearning and solemnity.
• Miyan Ki Malhar – Sa Ri₂ Pa Ma₁ Pa Ni₂ Dha₂ Ni₂ Sa / Ri₂ Ni₂ Sa Dha₂ Ni₂ Ma Pa Ga₂ Ma₁ Ri₂ Sa A monsoon raga filled with pathos and grandeur, where the ni–dha–ni–Sa pattern symbolises the gathering of clouds.
• Raag Bahaar – Ni₃ Sa Ma₁ Pa Ga₂ Ma₁ Ni₂ Dha₂ Ni₂ Sa / Sa Ni₂ Pa Ma₁ Pa Ga₂ Ma₁ Ri₂ Sa The raga of spring, employed here to portray the grace of Manipuri dance. The pakhawaj and soft ghunghroos enhance its dignified elegance.
• Ataana – Sa Ri₂ Ma₁ Pa Ni₃ Sa / Sa Ni₃ Dha₂ Pa Ma₁ Pa Ga₃ Ri₂ Sa Concludes the piece with rhythmic vitality and a sense of closure.

The flow from Miyan Ki Malhar to Bahaar feels like a musical journey through the seasons — spring’s poise melting into the monsoon’s emotional fullness. The result is a rare cinematic moment where Ilaiyaraaja stands not only as composer but as performer, uniting two classical traditions within one canvas.

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🌿 Two Languages of Rain

Amruthavarshini speaks in light — joyous, devotional, and pure. Miyan Ki Malhar speaks in shade — introspective, emotional, and soaked with monsoon spirit. In Aavedana, these worlds meet, forming a dialogue between season and sound.

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🌈 Conclusion

Rain, in Ilaiyaraaja’s music, is more than an element — it is a state of being. Through Amruthavarshini, he gives rain its light, purity, and prayer. Through Bahaar and Miyan Ki Malhar, he grants it emotion, gravity, and grace — blending the celestial and the earthly in seamless harmony.

Each droplet seems to pulse with rhythm; each thunderclap carries melodic intent. In his hands, nature becomes notation, and silence itself transforms into sound. His portrayal of rain is not mere depiction but participation — an immersion where composer, listener, and the elements breathe as one.

When Ilaiyaraaja writes with rain, he does not describe it — he is the rain. The sky, the rhythm, and the melody coalesce until music itself begins to fall.

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© 2026 Dhinakar Rajaram. All rights reserved. This article is an original analytical writing prepared for personal documentation and educational discussion.
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