The melakarta system, in plain words

Melakarta ragas are the 72 parent scales of Carnatic music. Each one uses all seven swaras (Sa, Ri, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, Ni) exactly once, in order, going up and coming down. Every other raga, called a janya raga, is derived from one of them.

Sa and Pa never change. Ma has two forms, Suddha (M1) and Prati (M2). Ri and Ga can be combined in six valid ways, and so can Dha and Ni. Six times six times two gives 72.

Venkatamakhi set out the scheme of 72 melas in his treatise Chaturdandi Prakashika, around 1660. The names used today, from Kanakangi to Rasikapriya, were standardised later, in the 18th century.

The names follow the Katapayadi system. Each of the first two syllables stands for a digit, and reading the digits in reverse gives the mela number. In Mayamalavagowla, ma is 5 and ya is 1, so reversed it is 15.

The 72 melas are grouped into 12 chakras of six. All six melas in a chakra share the same Ri, Ga and Ma. The chakra names count from one to twelve: Indu (moon, 1), Netra (eyes, 2), Agni (fires, 3), Veda (4), Bana (arrows, 5), Rutu (seasons, 6), Rishi (sages, 7), Vasu (8), Brahma (9), Disi (directions, 10), Rudra (11) and Aditya (suns, 12).

Melas 1 to 36 use Suddha Madhyamam (M1), the natural fourth. Melas 37 to 72 use Prati Madhyamam (M2), a semitone higher. Each mela has a counterpart 36 places away that is identical except for Ma, such as Dheerasankarabharanam (29) and Mechakalyani (65).

Four swaras borrow the position of the next swara: Suddha Ga (G1), Shatsruti Ri (R3), Suddha Ni (N1) and Shatsruti Dha (D3). A mela that uses any of them is called vivadi. That happens in the pairs R1 G1, R3 G3, D1 N1 and D3 N3, so 40 of the 72 melas are vivadi.

A janya raga is derived from a melakarta. It may leave out swaras, change their order, or add phrases. Mohanam, Hamsadhwani and Hindolam are janya ragas of Harikambhoji, Dheerasankarabharanam and Natabhairavi.

Spin the wheel or drag it to land on a raga, then tap the centre to hear its arohanam and avarohanam over a sruti drone. Use Find a mela to filter by Ma, Ri, Ga, Dha, Ni, chakra or vivadi, or search by name in English or Tamil.

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