Melakarta

Mēḷakartā is a collection of fundamental musical scales ( ragas) in Carnatic music (South Indian classical music). ''Mēḷakartā'' ragas are parent ragas (hence known as ''janaka'' ragas) from which other ragas may be generated. A ''melakarta'' raga is sometimes referred as ''mela'', ''karta'' or ''sampurna'' as well, though the latter term is inaccurate, as a ''sampurna'' raga need not be a ''melakarta'' (take the raga ''Bhairavi,'' for example).

In Hindustani music the ''thaat'' is equivalent of ''Melakartā''. There are 10 ''thaats'' in Hindustani music, though the commonly accepted ''melakarta'' scheme has 72 ragas.

Rules for ''Mēḷakarta'' ragas

Ragas must contain the following characteristics to be considered ''Melakarta''.
*They are ''sampurna ragas'' – they contain all seven ''swaras'' (notes) of the octave in both ascending and descending scale''Ragas in Carnatic music'' by Dr. S. Bhagyalekshmy, Pub. 1990, CBH Publications''A practical course in Carnatic music'' by Prof. P. Sambamurthy, 15th edition published 1998, The Indian Music publishing house
*The upper shadjam is included in the raga scale (ragas like ''Punnagavarali'' and ''Chenchurutti'' are not ''mēḷakarta'' as they end with ''nishadam'')
*The ascending and descending scales must have the same notes

History

The ''mēḷa'' system of ragas was first propounded by Raamamaatya in his work Svaramelakalanidhi c. 1550. He is considered the father of ''mela'' system of ragas. Later, Venkatamakhin, a gifted musicologist in the 17th century, expounded a new ''mela'' system known today as ''mēḷakarta'' in his work ''Chaturdandi Prakaasikaa''.Shree Muthuswami Dikshitar Keertanaigal, by A Sundaram Iyer, Madras Book Publications, Mylapore, Chennai He made some bold and controversial claims and defined somewhat arbitrarily 6 ''svaras'' from the known 12 semitones, at that time, to arrive at 72 ''mēḷakarta'' ragas. The controversial parts relate to double counting of R2 (and similar ''svaras'') and his exclusive selection of ''madyamas'' for which there is no specific reasoning (also known as ''asampurna melas'' as opposed to ''sampurna ragas''). However, today the 72 ''mēḷakarta'' ragas use a standardized pattern, unlike Venkatamakhi's pattern, and have gained a significant following. Govindhacharya is credited with the standardization of rules and known for giving different names for standard ragas that have a different structure but the same swaras as those proposed by Venkatamakhi. The scales in this page are those proposed by Govindaacharya.

Determining the ''Mēḷakarta''

A hundred years after Venkatamakhin's time the ''Katapayadi sankhya'' rule came to be applied to the nomenclature of the ''mēḷakarta'' ragas. The ''sankhya'' associates Sanskrit consonants with digits. The digits corresponding to the first two syllables of the name of a raga, when reversed, give the index of the raga. Thus the scale of a ''mēḷakarta'' raga can be easily derived from its name.

For example, '' Harikambhoji'' raga starts with syllables ''Ha'' and ''ri'', which have numbers 8 and 2 associated with them. Reversing them we get 28. Hence Harikambhoji is the 28th Mēḷakarta rāga. See Katapayadi sankhya for more details and examples.

''Mēḷakarta'' scale

Each ''mēḷakarta'' raga has a different scale. This scheme envisages the lower Sa (''Keezh Shadja''), upper Sa (''Mael Shadja'') and Pa (''Panchama'') as fixed ''swaras'', with the Ma (''Madhyama'') having two variants and the remaining swaras Ri (''Rishabha''), Ga (''Gandhaara''), Dha (''Dhaivata'') and Ni (''Nishaada'') as having three variants each. This leads to 72 seven-note combinations (scales) referred to as the ''Mēḷakarta'' ragas as follows.

There are twelve semitones of the octave S, R1, R2=G1, R3=G2, G3, M1, M2, P, D1, D2=N1, D3=N2, N3 (see ''swaras'' in Carnatic music for explanation of these notations). A melakarta raga must necessarily have S and P, one of the M's, one each of the R's and G's, and one each of the D's and N's. Also, R must necessarily precede G and D must precede N (''krama sampūrṇa'' rāga). This gives 2 × 6 × 6 = 72 ragas. Finding ''mēḷakarta ragas'' is a mathematical process. By following a simple set of rules we can find the corresponding raga and the scale associated with it.

A raga which has a subset of ''svarās'' from a ''Mēḷakarta'' raga is said to be a ''janya'' (means born or derived from) of that ''Mēḷakarta'' raga. Every raga is the ''janya'' of a ''mēḷakarta'' raga. ''Janya'' ragas whose notes are found in more than one ''mēḷakarta'' raga are assigned (or associated) parent ''Melakarta'' based on subjective notions of similarity. This is obvious for ragas that have less than seven notes. For such ragas it can be associated with a ''Mēḷakarta'' which has any of the different swaras in that position. For example, Hindolam has Rishabha and Panchama missing. Hence, it could be considered a janya of ''Todi'' (also known as ''Hanumatodi'') which has ''shuddha rishabha'' or with '' Natabhairavi'' which has a ''chathushruti rishabha''. It is popularly associated with ''Natabhairavi''.

''Chakras''

The 72 ''Mēḷakarta'' ragas are split into 12 groups called ''chakrās'', each containing 6 ragas. The ragas within the chakra differ only in the ''dhaivatam'' and ''nishadam'' notes (D and N), as illustrated below. The name of each of the 12 ''chakras'' suggest their ordinal number as well.''South Indian Music'' Book III, by Prof. P Sambamoorthy, Published 1973, The Indian Music Publishing House

* '' Indu'' stands for the moon, of which we have only one – hence it is the first ''chakra''.
* ''Nētra'' means eyes, of which we have two – hence it is the second.
* ''Agni'' is the third ''chakra'' it indicates three kinds of Agni (Dakshina, Ahavaniyam and gArhapatyam). So agni indicates 3rd ''Chakra''.
* ''Vēda'' denoting four ''Vedas'' is the name of the fourth ''chakra''.
* ''Bāṇa'' comes fifth as it stands for the five Arrows of ''Manmatha''.
* '' Rutu'' is the sixth ''chakra'' standing for the 6 seasons of Hindu calendar, which are Vasanta, Greeshma, Varsha, Sharat, Hemanta and Shishira.
* '' Rishi'', meaning sage, is the seventh ''chakra'' representing the seven sages.
* ''Vasu'' stands for the eight ''vasus'' of Hinduism.
* ''Brahma'' comes next of which there are 9.
* Disi ''Chakra'' indicates Ten directions(East, West, North, South, North East, North West, South East, South West, Above and Below). Hence it is 10th ''Chakra''.
* Eleventh ''chakra'' is ''Rudra'' of which there are eleven.
* Twelfth comes ''Ādityas'' of which there are twelve.

These 12 ''chakras'' were also established by Venkatamakhi.

Table of ''Mēḷakartā'' ragas

The 72 ''Mēḷakartā'' ragas can be divided into two parts, ''shuddha madhyama'' and ''prati madhyama'' ragas. When a given ''shuddha madhyama'' raga's M1 is replaced by M2, we get the corresponding ''prati madhyama'' raga. See Katapayadi sankhya for more information on how to derive the various ''swaras'' of a raga from its ''mēḷakartā'' number.

See swaras in Carnatic music for explanation of the notations like R1, G2, N2, and so forth.

Alternate ''Mēḷakarta'' scheme

Muthuswami Dikshitar school followed a different set of scales as the 72 ''Mēḷakarta'' ragas.Shree Muthuswami Dikshitar Keerthanaigal, Appendix III and IV, by A Sundaram Iyer of Kallidaikurichi, Music Books Publishers, Mylapore, Chennai These were taught by Venkatamakhin. Many of the scales were ''asampurna'' (not sampurna ragas) because Dikshitar chose to follow the earlier established structure to mitigate ill-effects of usage of direct '' vivadi swaras'' in the scales.

See also

* ''Janya'' raga
* List of Janya Ragas
*Illustration of the notes in Melakarta ragas in a Keyboard layout at Wikimedia commons
*Katapayadi system
* List of film songs based on ragas

References

External links

The katapayadi sankhya applied to the melakarta ragas



Explanation of the melakarta and demonstration of ragas with piano keys



Explanation of the 72 Melakartas composed by Shuddhananda Bharati

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Carnatic music terminology