Varali is a janya of Jalavarali (Jaalavaraali], the 39th mela raga.

The swara-s of the raga are: shadja (sa), suddha rishabha (ra), suddha gandhara (ga), prati madhyama (mi), panchama (pa), suddha dhaivata (dha) and kakali nishada (nu). The vakratva in the arohana (sa ga riga) was introduced because of the difficulty in singing sa riga straight with the vivadi swara (suddha gandhara). In the melakarta scheme, Jalavarali in the sampoorna  tradition has the arohana sa ra ga mi pa dha nu sa without any vakratva. But, in the asampoorna tradition, in which the raga is called Dhalivarali, the arohana and avarohana are the same as those for Varali: sa ga ra ga mi pa dha nu sa ; sa nu dha pa mi ga ra sa.