nattai raaga

The raaga 'nAttai' pronounced as in 'naattai' is a janya of 36th melakarta raaga 'chalanattai'.

This raaga is considered a very auspicious and mangala raaga mostly sung in the beginning of concerts. Most compositions in this raaga are on Lord Vinayaka, who is considered as a remover of all obstacles in life.

Arohana : S R3 G3 M1 P N3 S
Avarohana: S N3 P M1 G3 M1 R3 S

It is a Ghana raga, and the first of Thyagaraja’s Pancharatnas 'jagadananda' is set in this raga. It is also a Vivadi raga, i.e. some notes are placed at very close intervals, and hence an intoxicating effect is created in Chalanata and Nattai ragas. The Hindustani raga Jog closely resembles Nattai.

Let's look at some of the famous carnatic compositions in nattai raagam.
#1. 'Mahaganapathim', a famous Dikshitar krithi set on this raaga is on Lord Vinayaka and was even used in tamil movie 'Sindhubairavi'.
#2. The first Tyagaraja Pancharatna krithi, 'jagadananda karaka' is in this raaga.
#3. 'amari gapari' , a geetham also taught in nattai raaga.

Coming to film compositions in naattai,
#1. Mahaganapathim , the same carnatic song used in tamil movie 'Sindubairavi' which was a deadly combination of K.J.Yesudas & Ilayaraja. an extreme delight to music lovers !



#2. 'Chennai senthamizh' from the movie M.Kumaran Son of Mahalakshmi.



#3. 'Narumugaye' composed by A.r.rahman in the movie 'Iruvar' sung by nni Krishnan and Bombay Jayasree who has added more flavour to the raaga.



#4. 'Iyengar veetu azhage' from tamil movie 'anniyan',composed by Harris Jeyaraj sung by Hariharan and Harini a beautiful song which starts with the tyagaraja pancharatna krithi and continues in the same raaga throughout.



#5. The everlasting lively hit during the period of Mestro Ilayaraja, 'pani vizhum' in the movie 'Ninaivellam Nithya' sung by S.P.B. - I think it's set in chala nattai , parent of nattai raaga.



Did I leave any more film song in nattai raaga, you are welcome to add in the comment section.