Kharaharapriya

One of the most popular beliefs is that the ragam was initially called Samaganam and when Ravana was trapped by Shiva, under the kailash hill trying to lift it, it is believed that, to appease the lord, Ravana sang many hymns in praise of the lord, but his heart cooled only when a hymn was sung in the ragam and hence the name (hara) shiva and (priya) loved hence "Harapriya " – The one dear to Shiva, and to fit it in the Katapayadi system according to the melakarta chakra system.

The story of Rama killing the Khara demon is narrated in the 28th, 29th and the 30th sub-chapter of the Aranya Khanda of Ramayana.

Songs sung in Kharaharapriya ragas typically have long, elaborate ālapanās, which exhibit the fluidity of the rāgam.

The popular Kannada song 'Arādhisuve madanāri', from the movie Babhruvahana (1977) and sung by Dr. Rajkumar, is in typical Kharaharapriya.

A popular Tamil film composer M.S.Viswanathan used this raga brilliantly in many of his songs such as "Maharajan Ullagai" from Karnan, "Maadhavi Ponmayilal" in the movie Iru malargal.

[5] The Hindi song 'Tumhen Dekhti Hoon To' from movie Tumhare Liye composed by Jaidev sung by Lata Mangeshkar was based on Ragam Karnaranjani too.

Kharaharapriya's notes when shifted using Graha bhedam, yields 5 other major melakarta rāgams, namely, Kalyani, Hanumatodi, Natabhairavi, Shankarabharanam and Harikambhoji.