Melakarta

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In Carnatic music, a melakarta or melakartha or janaka or sampoorna raga is one that comprises all seven swaras. There are 72 melakarta ragas.

Indian classical music
Carnatic music
Composers
Purandara Dasa
The Trimurti
Tyagaraja
Muthuswami Dikshitar
Syama Sastri
Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma
Singers
M. S. Subbulakshmi
Hindustani music
Concepts
Śruti
Raga
Melakarta
Katapayadi sankhya
Swara
Tala
Mudra

Scale

Each melakarta raga has a different scale. The scales are constructed as follows: out of the twelve semitones of the octave S, R1, R2=G1, R3=G2, G3, M1, M2, P, D1, D2=N1, D3=N2, N3, a melakarta raga must necessarily have S and P, one of the M's, two of the R's and G's, and two of the D's and N's. Also, R must necessarily precede G and D must precede N. This gives 2 × 6 × 6 = 72 melakarta ragas.Finding melakartha ragas is more of a mathematics related problem and following a simple set of rules, we can find the corresponding raga and the scale associated with it.

A raga which has the same scale as a Melakartha raga (or a subset thereof) is said to be a janya of it (janya means born or derived from). Every raga is the janya of a melakarta raga. Ragas whose notes are found in more than one melakarta raga are assigned janyas based on subjective notions of similarity.

History

The melakarta classification was first expounded by Venkatamakhi in the 17th century. A hundred years later the Katapayadi sankhya rule came to be applied to the nomenclature of the melakarta ragas. The sankhya associates Sanskrit consonants with digits. The digits corresponding to the first two letters (syllables) of the name of a raga, when reversed, give the index of the raga in the list below. Thus the scale of a melakarta raga can be easily derived from its name.

Table of Melakarta ragas

It can be said that the entire set of 72 melakarta ragas can be divided into two parts. viz.,. suddha Madhyamam and prati Madhyamam ragas. When a given suddha madhyamam raga's M1 is replaced by M2, we get the corresponding Prati Madhyamam raga. See Katapayadi sankhya for more information on how to derive the various swaras of a raga from its Melakarta number.

Mēḷakartā Rāgās
Suddha Madhyamam			Prati Madhyamam
No.	Raga	Scale	No.	Raga	Scale
1.Indu Chakra			7. Rishi Chakra
1	Kanakangi	S R1 G1 M1 P D1 N1	37	Salagam	S R1 G1 M2 P D1 N1
2	Ratnangi	S R1 G1 M1 P D1 N2	38	Jalarnavam	S R1 G1 M2 P D1 N2
3	Ganamoorti	S R1 G1 M1 P D1 N3	39	Jhalavarali	S R1 G1 M2 P D1 N3
4	Vanaspati	S R1 G1 M1 P D2 N2	40	Navaneetam	S R1 G1 M2 P D2 N2
5	Manavati	S R1 G1 M1 P D2 N3	41	Pavani	S R1 G1 M2 P D2 N3
6	Tanarupi	S R1 G1 M1 P D3 N3	42	Raghupriya	S R1 G1 M2 P D3 N3
2. Netra Chakra			8. Vasu Chakra
7	Senavati	S R1 G2 M1 P D1 N1	43	Gavambodhi	S R1 G2 M2 P D1 N1
8	Hanumatodi	S R1 G2 M1 P D1 N2	44	Bhavapriya	S R1 G2 M2 P D1 N2
9	Dhenuka	S R1 G2 M1 P D1 N3	45	Subhapantuvarali	S R1 G2 M2 P D1 N3
10	Natakapriya	S R1 G2 M1 P D2 N2	46	Shadvidhamargini	S R1 G2 M2 P D2 N2
11	Kokilapriya	S R1 G2 M1 P D2 N3	47	Suvarnangi	S R1 G2 M2 P D2 N3
12	Roopavati	S R1 G2 M1 P D3 N3	48	Divyamani	S R1 G2 M2 P D3 N3
3. Agni Chakra			9. Brahma Chakra
13	Gayakapriya	S R1 G3 M1 P D1 N1	49	Dhavalambari	S R1 G3 M2 P D1 N1
14	Vakulabharanam	S R1 G3 M1 P D1 N2	50	Namanarayani	S R1 G3 M2 P D1 N2
15	Mayamalavagoula	S R1 G3 M1 P D1 N3	51	Kamavardhini	S R1 G3 M2 P D1 N3
16	Chakravakam	S R1 G3 M1 P D2 N2	52	Ramapriya	S R1 G3 M2 P D2 N2
17	Sooryakantam	S R1 G3 M1 P D2 N3	53	Gamanasrama	S R1 G3 M2 P D2 N3
18	Hatakambari	S R1 G3 M1 P D3 N3	54	Viswambhari	S R1 G3 M2 P D3 N3
4. Veda Chakra			10. Disi Chakra
19	Jhankaradhwani	S R2 G2 M1 P D1 N1	55	Syamalangi	S R2 G2 M2 P D1 N1
20	Natabhairavi	S R2 G2 M1 P D1 N2	56	Shanmukhapriya	S R2 G2 M2 P D1 N2
21	Keeravani	S R2 G2 M1 P D1 N3	57	Simhendramadhyamam	S R2 G2 M2 P D1 N3
22	Kharaharapriya	S R2 G2 M1 P D2 N2	58	Hemavati	S R2 G2 M2 P D2 N2
23	Gourimanohari	S R2 G2 M1 P D2 N3	59	Dharmavati	S R2 G2 M2 P D2 N3
24	Varunapriya	S R2 G2 M1 P D3 N3	60	Neetimati	S R2 G2 M2 P D3 N3
5. Bana Chakra			11. Rudra Chakra
25	Mararanjani	S R2 G3 M1 P D1 N1	61	Kantamani	S R2 G3 M2 P D1 N1
26	Charukesi	S R2 G3 M1 P D1 N2	62	Rishabhapriya	S R2 G3 M2 P D1 N2
27	Sarasangi	S R2 G3 M1 P D1 N3	63	Latangi	S R2 G3 M2 P D1 N3
28	Harikambhoji	S R2 G3 M1 P D2 N2	64	Vachaspati	S R2 G3 M2 P D2 N2
29	Dheerasankarabharanam	S R2 G3 M1 P D2 N3	65	Mechakalyani	S R2 G3 M2 P D2 N3
30	Naganandini	S R2 G3 M1 P D3 N3	66	Chitrambhari	S R2 G3 M2 P D3 N3
6. Ritu Chakra			12. Aditya Chakra
31	Yagapriya	S R3 G3 M1 P D1 N1	67	Sucharitra	S R3 G3 M2 P D1 N1
32	Ragavardhini	S R3 G3 M1 P D1 N2	68	Jyotiswarupini	S R3 G3 M2 P D1 N2
33	Gangeyabhusani	S R3 G3 M1 P D1 N3	69	Dhatuvardhini	S R3 G3 M2 P D1 N3
34	Vagadheeswari	S R3 G3 M1 P D2 N2	70	Nasikabhusani	S R3 G3 M2 P D2 N2
35	Sulini	S R3 G3 M1 P D2 N3	71	Kosalam	S R3 G3 M2 P D2 N3
36	Chalanata	S R3 G3 M1 P D3 N3	72	Rasikapriya	S R3 G3 M2 P D3 N3

External links

• [Carnatic music theory from carnatic india.com]
• [The katapayadi sankhya applied to the melakarta ragas]
• [Explanation of the two melakarta systems]
• [Explanation of the melakarta and demonstration of ragas with piano keys]

 

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