Vakulabharanam- Pathos bounding at just 14

Vakulabharanam is the second raga in the Agni Chakra. The ragas in Agni chakra are charectarized with the intrinsic penance like outlook with the purvanga being the R1 G3 M1 combination. Let me give the Wikipedia link for cursory link Vakulabharanam - Wikipedia. The name is suggestive of its position as the 14th Melam. 

Vakulabharanam takes it a step further with the uttaranga inducing pathos with the famous D1 N2 combination. The name Vakulabharanam means flower's ornament. It is a delicate raga, not like its contemporaries in the same chakra. Delicate in the sense that its not flat sounding like its sister Gayakapriya (who ends up with a D1 N1), not sharp like D1 N3 like Mayamalavagowla. Just ends up in the sweet spot. The purvangam has a royal majesty of S R1 G3 M1, breaking the closely held Ri Ga interludes. The Indu chakra has a very close R1 G1 which makes R1 expression predominant over G1. The nethra chakra has the R1 G2 relationship, while the Ga is placed a bit further from the R1, still not enough for both the notes to shine, as G2 is emphasised more. The Agni chakra has a perfect spacing for R1 G3 combo, making both notes shine. The S R1 G3 M1 combination yields a beautiful outlook, where each note of R1, G3 and M1 can be expressed to its beauty. The D1 N2 combination yields a pathos outlook, so the whole raga could be summarized like a person who is venturing out courageously, with a fighting attitude, but the pathos makes him peaceful. 

Vakulabharanam's prathi madhyamam counterpart is Namanarayani, which gets a bit of a hard rep, cause it is in the same chakra as the famous Panthuvarali and Gamanashrama, which overpower all the ragas. Vakulabharanam in contrast, is enough known and explored by itself to carve out a distinct niche in the Agni Chakra which is dominated by Mayamalavagoula, Suryakantam and Chakravaham. 

Vakulabharanam's distinct haunting mode, is a bit different from other famous ragas in the Suddha madhyamam cycle like Hanumathodi, Natabhairavi and Charukesi. The R1 G3 M1 gives a nice karuna rasa which can be described as coming with a sense of rigorous and self justified piety.

Vakulabharanam by itself is sometimes outclassed by its famous child raga Ahiri. Ahiri's is known to be very difficult, with its zigzag phrases bringing out karuna way more than its parent. Vakulabharanam has the beauty for fast gamaka application, in the purvanga, and the uttaranga. Vakulabharanam doesnt have the vivadi swaras in it, and its similarity with the Mayamalavagoula raga, makes it an ideal candidate to play for the intermediate candidate. It's vadi swara is the Kaisiki Nishadam (N2) and samvadi swara is the Suddha Dhaivatam (D1), a rare case of the vadi and samvadi swara being in the uttaranga. There is a misconception that the vadi and samvadi by itself are used to identify the raga. I believe it to be ridiculous. Yet, with all the talk aside, the N2 by itself is accentuated with the phrase DNSRG, and the N2 brings the charectaristic pathos

A beautiful song is Gowri Natham by Dikshitar. With the uttaranga sounding very similar to Thodi the transition of N2 R1 G3 is haunting and a bit pronounced than the Mayamalavagoula N3 R1 G3, which is seamlessly done. The purvanga by itself is well supported, however the lower sthayi uttaranga doesnt allow Vakulabharanam to be unbound completely, with the D1 N2 providing an anchor. Another beautiful piece is by Ambi Subramanian in Vakulabharanam, where the purvanga notes are played like with all the beauty of R1 G3 M1 strutting bravely to war type, the solo warrior with the uttaranga gives  nostalgia, so charectaristic of this raga (Fusion Violin: Ambi Subramaniam at TEDxBMS - Bing video). Ahiri, which is so entwined with Vakulabharanam is also treated beautifully by Ambi Subramanian and Harish from Agam (The Celestial Nymph ( Manassi Dussaham ) | Agam | A Dream To Remember | Music Video - Bing video : Mayamma | Raga Ahiri | Ambi Subramaniam - Bing video). Ahiri is said to be older, with Venkatamakhi the sage, fixing some of Ahiri's notes in the linear melakartha scale constraint to bring about Vakulabharanam (somewhat like optimization, not going to lie). Nevertheless, both are beautiful ragas in their own rights. 

Despite Carnatic music's preference for certain types of rasas being induced by ragas. Vakulabharanam is also used in film music. Vilayadu Mankatha is an example, where the electric guitar creates a very thrilling atmosphere using N2 key. Other examples are also given in the wiki page as entries, each of them worth exploring. (Vilayadu Mankatha Song By Dinakar Full HD 1080p.wmv - Bing video). 

On the whole, its a beautiful raga in its own right, sometimes getting overshadowed. But when you hear it, it leaves a haunting memory in your mind.