Ragam Shekharachandrika can be considered as a rarest of the rare ragas; since no popular compositions or renditions are available. This raga is a janya of mela (45) Shubha panthuvarali, without Panchamam in both arohanam and avarohanam. So, when sung it gives a great feel of the parent ragam, Shubha panthuvarali. Since the primary (basic) note, panchamam is absent, it requires a great expertise to master the raga.
Aroh: S R1 G2 M2 D1 N3 S ; Avaroh: S N3 D1 M2 G2 R1 S
Ragapravaham by D.Pattammal gives a similar structure; but with slight vakra in the arohanam:
SRGMNDNS // SNDMGRS
In Hindustani music, the Todi thaat is equivalent to the mela (45) Shubha panthuvarali. Tansen had named this Todi as ‘Miyan ki Todi’ which sounds alike to Subhapantuvarali of carnatic music. The pancham – varjya variety of this Todi is ‘Gurjari Todi, which resembles very much to Shekharachandrika.
As already mentioned,not many songs are available in this raga. Last year, during the Margazhi Festival, Sangeetha kalanidhi Sanjay Subramanian had sung a Tamil composition, “Ayyane un azhagai” in this raga. This was written by Mayooram Sri. Vedanayakam Pillai (varakavi) and was originally composed in Chenjurutti raga.
The composition, ‘Vandarulavay’ by Sattur Karpagam is said to be in this raga, but no details were obtained. Another Ayyappan song “padi padiyAga uyarthum padi” is in this raga; the lyrics are given in the site: http://srisathsangam.blogspot.com/2017/11/padi-padiyaga-uyarthum-padi.html
“nOy orupakkam tuyar orupakkam” - Virutham on Lord Muruga sung by sri, Pazhani Venkatesh in his album "Thirupukazh" is said to be in this raga; again details are not easily available.
Here is a detailed alapana, followed by the composition, ‘Ayyane un azhagai’ by Sri. Sanjay Subramanian, which gives a very clear idea about the raga and eases the confusion between this and the parent raga.