72 Mela Raga scheme 

Melakarta raga

​A Melakarta raga is one which has all seven notes in both the arohanam (ascending scale) and avarohanam (descending scale) , swaras in the  arohanam are in ascending scales S R G M P D N and swaras in the avarohanam are in descending scale  S N D P M G R and the same swaras in the arohanam and avarohanam. Some Melakarta ragas are Harikambhoji, Kalyani, Kharaharapriya, Mayamalavagowla, Sankarabharanam and Todi.
             
Melakarta is a collection of fundamental ragas (musical scales) in Carnatic music (South Indian classical music). Melakarta 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.

 The four characteristic features of a Janaka raga are :--
 
1. The Sampurna character of the Arohana and Avarohana.
i.e., the full complement of the seven notes being represented in both the ascent and the descent. 

2. The ashtaka character of the Arohana and Avarohana.
i.e. taking s r g m p d n S – S n d p m g r s.
Nadanamakriya taking  n s r g m p d n – n d p m g r s n though has a sampurna ascent and descent, still is not a mela, since it lacks the ashtaka character. 

3. The krama sampurna character of the Arohana and Avarohana.
i.e., the ascent and descent being regular i.e., in the sarala gati or krama gati and, not zigzag or vakra. In other words, taking the arohana and avarohana separately, each swara letter occurring only once. 

4. The homogeneous character of the swaras in both the Arohana and Avarohana.
i.e., the individual swaras being of the same kind in both the ascent and descent.

In other words, the notes: Ri Ga Ma Dha Ni are not of one kind in the arohana and of a different kind in the avarohana. Thus Bhairavi, which takes a krama-sampurna arohana and avarohana cannot be a melakarta, because it takes one kind of Dhaivata (Chatussruti) in the arohana and another kind of Dhaivata (Suddha) in the avarohana.
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Scheme of Arrangement

​There are 72 Janaka ragas and they are arranged according to a definite plan. This plan of arrangement helps one to give the swaras taken by any one of the 72 mela ragas without difficulty. The scheme of 72 parent modes is mathematically and logically accurate and is based on the universally recognised twelve semitones of the gamut. The fixed notes Sa and Pa are present in all the 72 karta ragas and serve to give a certain fixity to their melodic character.

THE SCHEME

​The 72 melakarta ragas are grouped under twelve chakras, each chakra comprising within it six mela ragas. The scheme is divided into two halves. In the first half which includes Chakras I to VI and the melas 1-36, the Suddha Madhyama occurs as a constant note and in the second half, which includes Chakras VII to XII and melas 37-72, the Prati Madhyama occurs as a constant note. For this reason, the first six chakras are referred to as the Suddha Madhyama chakras and the second six chakras as the Prati Madhyama chakras. The first half or the Suddha Madhyama half is referred to as the Purva group and the second half or the Prati Madhyama half as the Uttara group. Every Purva melakarta has its corresponding Uttara melakarta and vice versa. The note Ma is thus the bisecting line in the melakarta scheme. The Uttara half is a repetition of the Purva half, with the difference that the Prati Madhyama takes the place of the Suddha Madhyama. The names of the twelve chakras as well as the serial numbers of the melakartas included in them are given below.

THE 12 CHAKRAS

Bhuta Sankya

​It may incidentally be noted that the names of the chakras are based on Bhuta sankhya and are themselves suggestive of their serial numbers.
 
Indu means moon and there is only one moon; and the name naturally suggests the number one, for the first chakra.

Netra means eye and all living beings have two eyes; and the name naturally suggests the number two, for the second chakra.

Agni stands for number three, suggesting the three sacrificial fires - Dakshina, Ahavaniya and Garhapatya.

Veda stands for number 4. There are the four Vedas ; Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharva Veda.

Bana stands for number 5. The Pancha banas of Marmatha or the five arrows of Cupid are the five kinds of flowers; lotus, mango, asoka, jasmine and blue water-lily.

Rutu stands for 6; the Shadrutus or the six seasons of the year, according to the Indian Calendar are Vasanta, Grishma, Varsha, Sara, Hemanta and Sisir.

Rishi stands for 7; the Sapta rishis being Gautama, Bharadvaja, Visvamitra, Jamadagni, Vasishta, Kasyapa and Atri.

Vasu stands for 8; the Ashta vasus are Apa, Dhruva, Soma, Dhare (Tava), Anila, Anala, Pradyusha and Prabhasa.

Brahma stands for 9 ;the Nava brahmas or 9 Projapatis being Angirasa, Atri, Kasyapa, Pulastya, Pulaha, Brigu, MarIchi, Vasishta and Daksha.

Disi suggests the number 10, because of the 10 directions : north, south, east, west ; the four corners: north-east, south-cast, north-west, south-west ; above (akasa) and below (patala).

Rudra stands for 11, because of the concept of Ekadasa Rudras in the sacred literature : Aja, Ekapata, Ahirbudni, Dvasha, Rudra, Hara, Sambhu, Tryambaka, Aparajita, Isana and Tribhuvana.

Aditya stands for 12, because of the concept of Dvadasa adityas (12 suns); Mitra, Ravi, Surya, Bhanu, Bhaga, Pusha, Hiranyagarbha, Marichi, Aditya, Savttra, Arka and Bhaskara.

Having seen that the notes Sa and Pa are present in all the 72 melakartas and also that the Suddha Madhyama occurs in melas 1-36 and the Prati Madhyama in melas 37 - 72, it remains for us now to see in which order the varieties of the notes; Ri, Ga, Dha and Ni occur in them.
 
Within a chakra, the initial and terminal notes of both the Purvanga and the Uttaranga remain the same. Again, within a chakra, the purvanga notes remain constant, i.e., the Rishabha and Gandhara retain their identical character in all the six mela ragas within the chakra—the change occurring only in the Dhaivata and Nishada.
 
In every chakra,
1st mela raga takes the Sudha Dhaivatha, Sudha Nishada
2nd mela raga takes the Sudha Dhaivatha, Kaishiki Nishada
3rd mela raga takes the Sudha Dhaivatha, Kakali Nishada
4th mela raga takes the Chatursruti Dhaivatha, Kaishiki Nishada
5th mela raga takes the Chatursruti Dhaivatha, Kakali Nishada
6th mela raga takes the Shatsruti Dhaivatha, Kakali Nishada

​The Rishabha-Gandhara varieties occur in the same order as the Dhaivata-Nishada varieties, but only change from chakra to chakra, instead of from mela to mela:
 
1st chakra takes the Sudha Rishabha, Sudha Gandhara
2nd chakra takes the Sudha Rishabha, Sadharana Gandhara
3rd chakra takes the Sudha Rishabha, Antara Gandhara
4th chakra takes the Chatursruti Rishabha, Sadharana Gandhara
5th chakra takes the Chatursruti Rishabha, Antara Gandhara
6th chakra takes the Shatsruti Rishabha, Antara Gandhara
 
These six rishabha-gandhara combinations repeat in the same order in the uttara half.i.e , in chakras VII – XII.
 
In the case of melas of number 49 and 4; 51 and 15; 62 and 26; it will be found that the reversal of the number of the Prati Madhyama mela gives rise to the number of the corresponding Suddha Madhyama mela and vice versa.
 
The nomenclature given here for the 72 melakartas is the one in vogue and is found for the first time in Govindacharya’s ‘Sangraha chudadmani’ (18th century). The other nomenclatures for the 72 melas which include asampurna scales will be discussed below.
 
The syllables, “pa sri go bhu ma sha” mnemonically represent the first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth melas of each chakra. These may be styled the mela mnemonics. These syllables by themselves indicate the numbers 1, 2, 3 4, 5, and 6 according to the Katapayadi formula. Thus, when these syllables are tacked on to the chakra names, we can calculate the serial numbers of the melas. Examples:  Netra- pa, Netra- sri, Netra-go, Netra-bhu, Netra-ma and Netra-sha signify respectively the melakartas of serial numbers, 7, 8,9, 10, 11 and 12.
Again Agni-go stands for the third mela in the III chakra and is the 5th mela, Mayamalavagaula ; Bana-bhu stands for the 4th mela in the V chakra and is the 28th mela, Harikambhoji and so on.
 It may be noted that in the phrases: Agni-go and Bana-bhu, the name of the chakra gives the clue to the purvanga swaras and the mela mnemonic, to the uttaranga swaras of the melakarta.

Utility of the Scheme
 
The utility of the scheme lies in the fact that, from the serial number of a melakarta raga, one can readily find the swaras taken by it. Suppose the swaras of the 27th melakarta are to be determined ; proceed as follows :
 
(1) Insert the swaras : sa, pa and the higher octave Sa in their appropriate places leaving blank spaces
for the remaining svaras as follows :--
                   sa  .  .  .  pa  .  .  Sa
 
(2) Notice whether the given number belongs to the purva group or the uttara group. The given number 27, belongs to the purva group and is therefore a suddha madhyama melakarta. Now insert ma in its appropriate place in the line as follows :--
                 sa  .  .  ma  pa  .  .  Sa
 
(3) Next, in order to determine the notes of the purvanga, find out the chakra to which the given number belongs. The number 27 belongs to the 5th chakra (comprising melakartas 25 - 30) and hence ri (chatussruti rishabha) and gu (antara  gandhara) are the notes taken. Now insert ri and gu in their proper places thus :--
                  sa   ri   gu  ma  pa  .  .  Sa
 
(4) Now, to determine the notes of the uttaranga find the rank of the given melakarta within the chakra. The number 27 occupies the 3rd rank; hence dha (suddha dhaivata) and nu (Kakali nishada) are the notes taken. Now insert dha and nu in the line as follows :--
                sa ri gu ma pa dha nu Sa
 
Thus the melakarta raga No. 27 takes tho notes :— sa ri gu ma pa dha nu ( shadja, chatussruti rishabha, antara gandhara, suddha madhyama, panchama, suddha dhaivata and kakali nishada.)
 
This is the melakarta raga known as Sarasangi and its mnemonic phrase will be: Bana-go.

In case where the given number belongs to the uttara group (comprising melakartas 37 - 72) subtract 36 from the given number and the resulting figure gives the number of the corresponding suddha madhyama melakarta. Determine the lakshana of this suddha madhyama melakarta by adopting the process mentioned above ; and by substituting prati madhyama for the suddha madhyama, the swaras of the melakarta raga of the given number will be obtained.
 
The several melakartas can also be represented by their swara mnemonics; thus
ra gu ma dha nu will signify the Agni-go mela or Mayamalavagaula  and
ri gu mi dhi nu will signify the Rudra-ma mela or Mechakalyani and so on.
 
The naming and singing of the note chatursruti rishabha with the letter ga, in the case of those scales, wherein both the suddha rishabha and chatursruti rishabha occur (melas 1 — 6 and 37 - 42) became a musical necessity. Vocalists and instrumentalists are alive to the resulting auditory delusion. The practice of singing a note belonging to the jurisdiction of one swara, with the solfa letter of a higher or lower swara was in vogue even before Venkatamakhi’s time. The practice has been approved as a matter of musical convenience. The innovation also results in the partial obliteration of the vivadi effect. The graced utterances of the concerned notes (i.e., with Kampita and Nokku or stress) remove the vivaditva altogether. A short pause after the graced vivadi swara has also the effect of neutraiising the vivaditva. The arguments aforesaid apply to the pairs:

(1) sadharana gandhara (shatsruti ri) and antara gandhara;
(2) suddha dhaivata and chatussruti dhaivata (suddha ni); and
(3)kaisiki nishada (shatsruti dha) and kakali-nishaada.

It may be noted that in the scheme of 72 melas, the melakartas of serial numbers 1, 8, 15, 22, 29 and 36 are entirely distinct from one another. In other words, excepting for the notes sa, ma and pa, the rishabha - gandhara and dhaivata - nishada, groups of notes taken by one mela are not repeated in any of the other five. Each mela has a distinct purvanga and uttgranga and the purvanga pattern and the uttaranga pattern of each mela are symmetrical i.e., the corresponding intervals between ‘the pairs of notes in the lower and upper tetrachords of each of these six melas are same. Also note that each number is higher than its previous number by 7. Thus:

                            1+7=8
                           8+7=15
                         15 +7 = 22
                         22 +7= 29
                        29 +7 = 36

In the melakarta code, the reasons for omitting the following swara combinations,
(a) chatursruti ri and suddha ga (ri - ga)
(b) shatsruti ri and suddha ga (ru - ga)
(c) shatsruti ri and sadharana ga (ru - gi) are clear. In (a), the notes belong to an identical swarasthana; likewise in (c), the notes belong to an identical swarasthana. Since. in a scale, the notes have to progress by steps, these two combinations cannot come validly. In (b) the suddha ga is lower in pitch, compared do shatsruti ri; and the adoption of such a combination will result in vakratva being imported and go against the concept of krama (sarala) gati or regular ascent.

For the same reasons the  following combinations :--
(a)chatursruti dha and suddha ni (dhi - na)
(b) shatsruti dha and suddha ni (dhu - na)
(c) shatsruti dha and kaisiki ni (dhu - ni) are ignored in the formulation of the scheme of 72 melakartas.
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It may incidentally be noticed that the number 72 is equal to twice the square of six (6X6X2=72).
The number 32, which is the total number of non-vivadi melas is equal to twice the square of four (4x4X2=32).
 
It is possible to suggest an alternative scheme of arrangement for the 72 melas based on the self-same twelve notes, but the present arrangement is perfect and logical, and must be left undisturbed.