Abstract

The rāga Dhanyāśi has been in vogue in the Karṇāṭak music tradition for a long period of time. This rāga offers ample scope for development in terms of Manōdharma Saṅgīta as well as with respect to Kalpita Saṅgīta. The lakṣaṇa of this rāga is available in the early treatises as well as the treatises from the early 1900s, suggesting that this rāga is quite old. Dhanyāśi has been in vogue in the Hindustāni tradition as well and this can be interpreted from the availability of the description of this rāga in the North Indian treatises. This article aims at tracing the historical evolution of the rāga Dhanyāśi in order to study and understand the changes in the lakṣaṇa of the rāga over different centuries. The descriptions of this rāga as given in the treatises belonging to different time periods have been taken up as references for the purpose of tracing the developments in the lakṣaṇa of this rāga.