Melody In Carnatic Music - Part 3

By Kiranavali Vidyasankar
In my previous article, I gave you the basic outline of the 72 Melakarta scheme. We shall now go into
further details.
So far we saw the various possible combinations of notes in a full or sampoorna scale (a scale that has
all the 7 basic notes). We also know that the 72 Melakartas are first divided into 2 halves of 36 ragas
each, based on the Ma.
The next step is equally simple. The entire 72 Melakartas are further subdivided into twelve parts of six
ragas each (12 X 6 = 72). These 12 parts are called Chakras, and we also have interesting nomenclature
for them, which enable us to find out the exact Chakra number even from its name. The Chakras are
given in the table below with the reason for naming them so. I have given them only to show the
thought and wisdom that has gone into every little detail. It is not particularly relevant to our
discussion on the Melakarta scheme.
Table 1 - The 12 Chakras
Indu

Moon - The earth has one moon

Netra

Eyes - We have two of them

Agni

Fire - There are three fires maintained in the Vedic

ritual

Veda

The original scriptures of Hindu religion, which are 4

in number

Bana

Arrow - Kama or cupid is believed to have 5 arrows

Rutu

Seasons - Of six types namely, Vasanta, Greeshma,

Varsha, Sharad, Sisira and Hemanta

Rishi

Sages - We have the famous sapta or seven rishis

Vasu

A group of deva-s or celestial beings, 8 in number

Brahma

Mythological reference to the nine cycles of the

universe, each presided over by one Brahma

Dishi

Direction - 10 in all, including above and below

Rudra

The set of 11 deva-s headed by Lord Siva

Aditya

The group of 12 deva-s headed by Lord Vishnu

Coming back to the musical aspects, we now have to see how the rest of the notes are determined for
each mela.
Well, we already talked of the Poorvanga (first 4 notes, Sa, Ri, Ga & Ma) and the Uttaranga (Pa, Da &
Ni). Each of the six melas in any Chakra will have the same set of notes in the Poorvanga. As Sa is
constant and Ma is predetermined, we only have to worry about Ri and Ga. These also change in the
same order that we saw earlier (Refer Table 2). In other words, all the melas of the first Chakra will
have Ri1 and Ga1, the second Chakra will have Ri1 and Ga2 and so on.
Table 2
Possible Ri-Ga combinations - Changes with every Chakra
Ri1 - Ga1

Ri1 - Ga2
Ri1 - Ga3
Ri2 - Ga2
Ri2 - Ga3
Ri3 - Ga3
Table 3
Possible Da-Ni combinations - Changes with every mela within the Chakra
Da1-Ni1
Da1-Ni2
Da1-Ni3
Da2-Ni2
Da2-Ni3
Da3-Ni3
Coming to the Uttaranga, it is once again simple. Since Pa is constant, only Da and Ni have to be
determined. The Uttaranga changes for every mela within the Chakra. Since there are 6 melas in each
Chakra and only six possible combinations of Da and Ni, this can easily be fitted. That is, the first mela
in any Chakra will have the first combinations of Da and Ni, the second will have Da1-Ni2 and so on.
(Refer Table 3)
The same procedure is repeated for the next set of 36 melas, wherein only the Ma1 will change to Ma2.
Here again, the 7th Chakra (Rishi) will correspond to the 1st Chakra (Indu), and all the melas therein
will have the same set of notes as those of Indu Chakra except Ma. Similarly, the 8th Chakra (Vasu) will
correspond to the 2nd Chakra (Netra), the 9th (Brahma) to the 3rd (Agni) and so on.
This can be illustrated easily with a couple of examples. For example, take mela number 31. It is the
first mela in the 6th Chakra. Therefore it will have Ma1, the 6th combination of Ri-Ga (which is
determined by the Chakra number) and the first combination of Da-Ni (which is determined by what
mela it is within the Chakra). So the notes will be Sa-Ri3-Ga3-Ma1-Pa-Da1-Ni1 and back in the reverse
order.
Now, let us take the example of mela 52. Since it is after the 36th mela, we know that it will have Prati
Madhyama or Ma2. It is the 4th mela in the 9th Chakra. Therefore the notes would be Sa-Ri1-Ga3-Ma2Pa-Da2-Ni2 (3rd Ri-Ga combination as the 9th Chakra corresponds to the 3rd Chakra, and 4th Da-Ni
combination).
In my next article, I shall give you the names of the 72 melakartas with their scales. In the meantime,
if you have any doubts, please feel free to write your comments.