(thing) by nyte Mon May 06 2002 at 21:42:30
What follows is a very brief description of how the Melakartha ragas work. If you're trying to get some understanding of Carnatic music and you came here, I suggest you read the Carnatic music node first. If you want to go straight to the raga catalog, skip this next bit. Everyone else: read on!

Carnatic music, the music of South India, is based on a rigidly codified system of ragas, comparable to modes in Western music. There is no absolute system of notes (i.e. C D E etc), but rather each note in a raga is relative to a tonic or root of the artist's choice. There are a maximum of seven notes, or swaras, in a raga: Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni. Carnatic music recognizes, just like the Western system, a 12-semitone octave, and each swara is given a range of one to three semitones. Each version of the swara also has a separate name. Here is a table showing the ranges for each swara (1 is the root, and so on):

Swara          Semitone          Name
-------------------------------------
Sa                 1           Shadja
Re1                2           Shuddha Rishaba
Re2/Ga1            3           Chatushruti Rishaba/Shuddha Gandhara
Ga2/Re3            4           Sadharana Gandhara/Shatshruti Rishaba
Ga3                5           Anthara Gandhara
Ma1                6           Shuddha Madhyama
Ma2                7           Prati Madhyama
Pa                 8           Panchamam
Dha1               9           Shuddha Dhaivatha
Dha2/Ni1           10          Chatushruti Dhaivata/Shuddha Nishida
Ni2/Dha3           11          Kaishiki Nishada/Shatshruti Dhaivata
Ni3                12          Kakali Nishada

As you can see, Sa and Pa are fixed swaras; Sa is the root, and Pa is its fifth. The Melakartha ragas are the main or parent ragas that can be made from these swaras by including at least one of each swara. (Note: you can't have a raga with, say, Re3 and Ga1; Re must always be below Ga, Dha must always be below Ni, and so on). Also, all Melakartha ragas must have the same swaras going up (arohana) and coming down (avarohana). There are hundreds of janya ragas (child ragas) made by removing up to 3 swaras and having differing arohana and avarohana, but there are only 72 Melakartha ragas.

In any given Melakartha raga, there are two parts: the upper half, Pa-Dha-Ni-Sa, known as the uttaranga, and the lower half, Sa-Re-Ga-Ma, known as the purvanga. Let us examine the possible permutations of the uttaranga. Pa is fixed, Sa is fixed; Dha and Ni are the only variables. There are three Dha and three Ni, but no tone can be occupied by two swaras and Ni must always be above Dha; this leaves us with 6 combinations:

Pa-Dha1-Ni1-Sa
Pa-Dha1-Ni2-Sa
Pa-Dha1-Ni3-Sa
Pa-Dha2-Ni2-Sa
Pa-Dha2-Ni3-Sa
Pa-Dha3-Ni3-Sa

Each of the above uttarangas has a name: Pa, Sri, Go, Bhu, Ma, and Sha, respectively. Now let us examine the purvanga. In this, Sa is the only fixed swara and Re, Ga, and Ma are all variable. Let us disregard the variations in Ma for the moment and assume it is fixed: the same principles as above apply, and we get 6 combinations from 3 Re and 3 Ga. For each of those there are two Ma; therefore, there are 12 possible purvangas:

Sa-Re1-Ga1-Ma1
Sa-Re1-Ga2-Ma1
Sa-Re1-Ga3-Ma1
Sa-Re2-Ga2-Ma1
Sa-Re2-Ga3-Ma1
Sa-Re3-Ga3-Ma1
Sa-Re1-Ga1-Ma2
Sa-Re1-Ga2-Ma2
Sa-Re1-Ga3-Ma2
Sa-Re2-Ga2-Ma2
Sa-Re2-Ga3-Ma2
Sa-Re3-Ga3-Ma2

Each of the above purvangas (also called chakras), too, has a name: Indu, Netra, Agni, Veda, Bana, Ruthu, Rishi, Vasu, Brahma, Disi, Rudra, and Aditya, respectively. Combined with the 6 uttarangas, this makes 72 ragas in which all swaras are extant and the arohana is indentical to the avarohana.

The Catalog
Each Melakartha raga has associated with it a specific mood, time, setting, etc. I will node these in no particular order (i.e., the ones I know best first), but I will keep them numbered according to standard order.

    Chakra 1 - Indu

  1. Kanakangi
  2. Ratnangi
  3. Ganamoorti
  4. Vanaspati
  5. Manavati
  6. Tanaroopi

    7. Chakra 2 - Netra

  7. Senavati
  8. Hanumatodi
  9. Dhenuka
  10. Natakapriya
  11. Kokilapriya
  12. Roopavati

    13. Chakra 3 - Agni

  13. Gayakapriya
  14. Vakulabharana
  15. Mayamalavagowla
  16. Chakravaka
  17. Suryakanta
  18. Hatakambari

    19. Chakra 4 - Veda

  19. Jhankaradhwani
  20. Natabhairavi
  21. Keeravani
  22. Kharaharapriya
  23. Gowrimanohari
  24. Varunapriya

    25. Chakra 5 - Bana

  25. Mararanjani
  26. Charukeshi
  27. Sarasangi
  28. Harikambhoji
  29. Dhirashankarabharana
  30. Naganandini

    31. Chakra 6 - Rutu

  31. Yagapriya
  32. Ragavardhini
  33. Gangeyabhooshani
  34. Vagadheeshwari
  35. Shoolini
  36. Chalanata

    37. Chakra 7 - Rishi

  37. Salaga
  38. Jalarnava
  39. Jhalavarali
  40. Navaneeta
  41. Pavani
  42. Raghupriya

    43. Chakra 8 - Vasu

  43. Gavambodhi
  44. Bhavapriya
  45. Shubhapantuvarali
  46. Shadvidhamargini
  47. Suvarnangi
  48. Divyamani

    49. Chakra 9 - Brahma

  49. Dhavalambari
  50. Namanarayani
  51. Kamavardhini
  52. Ramapriya
  53. Gamanashrama
  54. Vishwambari

    55. Chakra 10 - Dishi

  55. Shyamalangi
  56. Shanmukhapriya
  57. Simhendramadhyama
  58. Hemavati
  59. Dharmavati
  60. Neetimati

    61. Chakra 11 - Rudra

  61. Kantamani
  62. Rishabhapriya
  63. Latangi
  64. Vachaspati
  65. Mechakalyani
  66. Chitrambari

    67. Chakra 12 - Agni

  67. Sucharitra
  68. Jyotiswaroopini
  69. Dhatuvardhini
  70. Nasikabhooshani
  71. Kosalam
  72. Rasikapriya

I like it! 2 C!s

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