EASWARAN ANANTRAM
Indian Scientific Music
MELAKARTA - THE PARENT SCALES
There are 72 Melakarta considering all possible combination of notes in Carnatic Music . The first mention of the Melakarta can be found in Raamamaatya ’ s Svara-mela-kalanidhi , c . 1550 . While Venkatamakhin , a musicologist of 17th Century , is attributed to this system , Govindacharya standardized this and it is this system that we will discuss in this article
Katapayadi Sankhya The Katapayadi Sankhya is an ancient coding system that has been used to determine the name of the Melakarta . It is an ancient coding system of Sanskrit that associates the consonants with digits .
Ka – Ta – Pa – Ya are the consonants that have been given the number 1 . The rest follow as simple counting . The Anuswaras ( the vowels which appear as consonants ), are given the number 0
To give you a simple example , in Chakravakam , the First letter is “ cha ” which corresponds to number 6 and “ ka ” which corresponds to 1 . You reverse the sequence of the digits , you get 16 which means Chakravakam is the 16th Melakarta
Vivadi Swaras We have estmablished in the previous articles that there are 12 Swaras , and in the process of making a Raga , we cannot take the Vikruta Swaras one after another . Venkatamakhin got around this concept by making one Vikruta Swara as a lower or higher Swara , thereby giving rise to 16 positions of the notes For example , the Shuddh Rishabh ( Notated as R2 ) takes the form of a Gandhar when used with the Komal Rishabh ( Notated as R1 ). This Gandhar is called as the Shudhha Gandhar in Carnatic Music . So , we end up using the similar logic with 3 Rishabha , 3 Gandhara , 3 Dhivata & 3 Nishada .
They are denoted by R1 , R2 , R3 , G1 , G2 , G3 , D1 , D2 , D3 , N1 , N2 , N3
Arrangement of Melakarta The melakarta are perfectly arranged in groups of six called Chakras . In each chakra , the Rishabh and Gandhar remain constant , while the Dhivat and Nishad change to see all possible combinations . The first 36 Melakarta are with the Shuddha Madhyam while the other 36 are the Prati Madhayam or Tivra Madhyam equivalent of the same
The Chakras are also named in a certain way that are easy to remember :
Indu – Moon as there is only one moon for the Earth – This is the first chakra – Has R1 & G1
• Netra – Meaning eyes – two eyes denoting the second Chakra – Has R1 & G2
• Agni – There are 3 Divya Agnis , hence used for denoting the third Chakra – has R1 & G3
• Veda – There are 4 Veda , hence used for denoting the fourth Chakra – Has R2 & G2
• Bana – That is 5 Arrows of Kamadeva as the 5th Chakra – Has R2 & G3
• Rutu – The 6 seasons denoting the sixth Chakra – Has R3 & G3
• Rishi – Saptarishi to denote the seventh Chakra
• Vasu – Ashta-vasus or 8 Vasus to denote the 8th Chakra
• Brahma – to denote the 9th Chakra
• Disi – the 10 directions to denote the 10th Chakra
• Rudra – the 11 Rudras to denote the 11th Chakra
• Aditya – the 12 forms of the Sun to denote the 12th Chakra
To figure out the Notes in the Raga from the name ,
• Chakravakam – using the Sankhya – 16th Melakarta
• Subtract 1 and divide by 6 � Quotient = 3 Reminder is 3
• It is from the Third Chakra has R2 & G2 , and similarly , has D2 & N2
• As it is less than 36 it has M1 that is Shuddha
Madhyam I hope this gives some clarity of the magnificence of the Melakarta System ! Happy Reading !!
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