Swara sthanas for Melakarta Ragas.pdf

Positions of swaras: Position: 1

Sa

2 R 1

Simpler R1 view: Simpler RNotation** Low Table 1

3 R 2 G 1 R2

4 R 3 G 2 G1

5 G 3

6 7 Ma 1 Ma 2

8 Pa

9 D 1

11 D 3 N 2 N1

12 N 3

D1

10 D 2 N 1 D2

G2

M1

M2

Pa

RHigh

GLow

GHigh

M1

M2

Pa

DLow

DHigh

NLow

NHigh

Melakarta ragas have exactly 1 Ri-Ga-Da-Ni each. Ri has to be lower than Ga. Da has to be lower than Ni. This is the only requirement. So, Ri can take 3 positions - 2, 3 or 4 in table 1 – referred to as R1, R2 and R3. Ga can take 3 positions - 3,4 or 5 - referred to as G1, G2 and G3. This means positions 3 and 4 can be either Ri or Ga depending on the raga. Ri in R1 can have Ga in G1, G2 or G3 for Ri-Ga pairs. i.e. (R1,G1) or (R1,G2) or (R1,G3) – these are 3 possible combinations. Ri in R2 can have Ga in G2 or G3 for Ri-Ga pairs. i.e. (R2, G2) or (R2,G3) - these are 2 combinations. Ri in R3 can have Ga in G3 for Ri-Ga pair i.e. ( R3,G3) - this is 1 combination. So, Ri-Ga pairs have 3+2+1 = 6 combinations. A similar idea applies to Da-Ni combinations - ( D1,N1), (D1, N2), (D1, N3), (D2, N2), (D2,N3), (D3,N3) for a total of 6 combinations. Positions 10 and 11 can be either Da or Ni depending on the raga. So there is a total of 36 combinations of Ri-Ga and Da-Ni combinations i.e. 6 Ri-Ga combinations paired with each of the 6 Da-Ni combinations. Since there are 2 Ma positions we have 36 x 2 = 72 combinations of Ri-GaMa-Da-Ni combinations resulting in 72 Melakarta ragas.

N2

With this set of combinations, positions 3 and 4 may be a Ri in one raga but will be Ga in another raga. Similarly positions 10 and 11 may be Da in one raga but could be Ni in another raga. Raga Arohanam Mayamalava Gowla Shankarabharanam Kalyani Hari Kamboji Karaharapriya

1 S S S S S

2 R1 R2 R2 R2 R2

3 G3 G3 G3 G3 G2

4 M1 M1 M2 M1 M1

5 Pa Pa Pa Pa Pa

6 D1 D2 D2 D2 D2

7 N3 N3 N3 N2 N2

8 S S S S S

Table 2 ** In the simpler notation we ignore the 3 positions of Ri and Ga. We only consider the 2 lower positions of Ri and 2 higher positions of Ga ignoring the overlap of Ri and Ga in positions 3 and 4. Similar idea is applied in Da-Ni combinations. Only 2 lower Da positions D1, D2 and 2 higher positions of Ni i.e. N2, N3 are considered ignoring the overlap in positions 10, 11. This gives us Ri-L, Ri-H, Ga-L, Ga-H ( positions 2,3,4,5) and Da-L, Da-H, Ni-L, Ni-H ( positions 9, 10, 11, 12). For Shriya’s easy reference: Raga Arohanam Mayamalava Gowla

1 S

Shankarabharanam

S

Kalyani

S

Hari Kamboji

S

Kharaharapriya

S

Table 3

2 RLow RHigh RHigh RHigh RHigh

3 GHigh GHigh GHigh GHigh G-Low

4 M1

5 Pa

6 D-Low

7 N-High

8 S

M1

Pa

D-High

N-High

S

M2

Pa

D-High

N-High

S

M1

Pa

D-High

N-Low

S

M1

Pa

D-High

N-Low

S

Of the 72 combination Melakarta ragas Mayamalavagowla has the greatest distance between Ri and Ga (i.e. 3 notes) and between Da and Ni (i.e. 3 notes). There is only 1 other raga with Prati madhyama which has the same distance between these notes. Kharaharapriya has the Ri-Ga and Da-Ni adjacent to each other.

The 72 Melakarta ragas are divided into 2 groups of 36 based on the Ma. Within each group of 36, ragas are divided into 6 groups of 6 ragas. Each group of 6 ragas belongs to a Chakram. Within each Chakram group of 6 ragas, the 6 combinations of Da-Ni are cycled through with the RiGa combinations remaining fixed. For example, both HariKamboji (28th Mela) and Dheera Sankarabharanam (29th Mela) belong to the 5th Chakram (with R2-G3) but have different Da-Ni pairs. Harikamboji has (D2-N2) and DheeraSankarabharanam has (D2-N3) with their Melakarta numbers 28 and 29 reflecting their swara closeness.

Position

Swara

Short name Notation Mnemonic

1

Shadja

Sa

S

sa

2

Shuddha Rishabha

Ri

R1

ra

3

Chatushruti Rishabha Ri

R2

ri

3

Shuddha Gandhara

G1

ga

4

Shatshruti Rishabha Ri

R3

ru

4

Sadharana Gandhara Ga

G2

gi

5

Antara Gandhara

Ga

G3

gu

6

Shuddha Madhyama Ma

M1

ma

7

Prati Madhyama

Ma

M2

mi

8

Panchama

Pa

P

pa

9

Shuddha Dhaivata

Dha

D1

dha

10

Chatushruti Dhaivata Dha

D2

dhi

10

Shuddha Nishada

N1

na

11

Shatshruti Dhaivata Dha

D3

dhu

11

Kaisiki Nishada

Ni

N2

ni

12

Kakali Nishada

Ni

N3

nu

Ga

Ni