Understanding and remembering the melakarta ragas

This is a sequel to my previous post. This post is predominantly a consolidation of many of the theories we earlier discussed. So a quick glance into my previous posts on Theory of Music would help.

Remembering mela names:

 

Please refer to Wikipedia article for the melakarta raga table: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melakarta

Shuddha Madhyama – Ka Se Ga Cha Ma Ya

Ka indicates Kanakangi, the first raga in first chakra. Se indicates Senavati , the first   raga in netra chakra. Similarly below verse helps in remembering the first raga of the 6 prati  madyama groups.

Prati Madhyama – Sa Ga Dha Shya Kaa Su

• In order to find the mela number (assuming we have the name of the raga), use the Katapayadhi Sankhya. Choose a raga, pick the first two syllables of the raga name. Pick the corresponding number closest to the sound of the syllables from below table. Reverse the numbers to arrive at the mela number

e.g. Dheerashankarabarana where Dhee and Ra are the first two syllables

Dha (closest to Dhee) – 9

Ra – 2

Reverse it to get the mela number of the raga i.e. 29^th

Finding out the scale of a mela:

 As mentioned earlier, there are only 6 combinations of R & G and 6 combinations of D & N:

(a)  R1 G1, R1 G2, R1 G3, R2 G2, R2 G3, R3 G3

(b)  D1 N1, D1 N2, D1 N3, D2 N2, D2 N3, D3 N3

 S & P are constants for all 72 melas and the first 36 melas are with Shuddha Madhyama (M1) and next 36 melas are with prati madhyama (M2)

 In order to arrive at the murchana i.e. scale  (arohana – avarohana) of each mela, one should first know the chakra of the raga.

Every chakra repeats the following order of D & N within the 6 ragas in the chakra:

S R G M P D1 N1 S

S R G M P D1 N2 S

S R G M P D1 N3 S

S R G M P D2 N2 S

S R G M P D2 N3 S

S R G M P D3 N3 S

If we remember this, the only two other swaras left are R & G since we know S & P are constants and if the raga is one among the first 36 it would have a M1, if not an M2.

R & G will be as follows:

1^st and 7^th chakra:  R1 and G1

2^nd and 8^th chakra: R1 and G2

3^rd and 9^th chakra:  R1 and G3

4^th and 10^th chakra: R2 and G2

5^th and 11^th chakra: R2 and G3

6^th and 12^th chakra: R3 and G3

7^th chakra ragas are the prati madyama equivalent of ragas in 1^st chakra. Similarly the other parallels mentioned above are Shuddha & Prati Madhyama equivalents.

Just divide the raga by 6. If the mela number is divisible, the quotient would be chakra in which the raga falls into. If there are remainders, then quotient+1 is the chakra number and remainder represents the place of raga within the chakra.

Let us use an example and find out the scale of Shanmukhapriya, the 56^th mela.

S – Constant

R – This raga falls in 10^th chakra (56/6 = 9 is the quotient and 2 would be the remainder. Hence 10^th chakra and the raga is in 2^nd place of 10^th chakra) So R2

G – falls in 10^th chakra . So G2

M – falls in second group of 36 melas. Hence M2

P – Constant

D – second raga within the chakra. So D1

N – second raga within the chakra. So N2

Therefore the scale is S R2 G2 M2 P D1 N2 S

S N2 D1 P M2 G2 R2 S

But as always, practice makes perfect. So keep munching these thoughts in your brain and try this exercise on every mela that you come across.

References:

 Sri K.V.Narayanamurti sir (www.narayanmurti.com)

Dr Vasanta Madhavi’s book on Theory of Music

Thanks Wikipedia