RAGAS AND CLASSIFICATION

PART - 1
Welcome to the lecture series in Karnātik music.
From this session we shall begin to discuss about a new topic, the Rāgās and
classification.

Under this topic, we would be learning about the following sub topics,
i. Mēlakarta raga scheme
ii. Classification tables of mēlakarta rāgas
iii. Bhūta saṃkhyā
iv. Janya and janaka Rāgās

Introduction
The outstanding feature of Indian music is the rāga system. Every Rāga is
a distinct musical entity by itself and possesses well defined characteristics.
Each raga has a separate aesthetic form and can be recognized by a trained
ear. Musical compositions are concrete forms of the abstract Rāgā. The
beauties underlying a raga are very subtle and delicate.

The diverse number of Rāgās is the dignity of Indian music. Rāgās form
the foundation of all melody in India. Raga is the embodiment of Indian music.
This concept is India’s proud contribution to world music. All possible
combinations of notes have been utilized in the formation of ragas for
producing emotional effects. Theoretically the number of ragas is infinite.

The diversity of ragas is so wide that it requires a broad classification for

detailed understanding. Let us study about them.

MELAKARTA RAGA SCHEME

The mēḷa system of ragas was first propounded by Rāmamātya in his
work Svaraēla kalānidhi c. 1550. He is considered the father of mela system
of ragas. Later, Venkatamakhi, a gifted musicologist in the 17th century,
expounded a new mela system known today as mēḷakarta in his work
Chaturdandi Prakāsikā. He made some bold and controversial claims and
defined somewhat arbitrarily 6 svaras from the known 12 semitones, at that
time, to arrive at 72 mēḷakarta ragas. He structured the Karnātik music ragas
into a mathematical table based on a scientific classification of their svaras.
He identified a total of 72 ragas as Mēlakarta ragas or Janaka (the parent)
ragas. All other ragas must be born out of one of the 72 ragas and therefore,
are children ragas or Janya ragas.

Govindāchārya is credited with the standardization of rules and known

for giving different names for standard ragas that have a different structure but
the same svaras as those proposed by Venkatamakhi. The scales in this page
are those proposed by Govindāchārya.

These 72 ragas each have a name and are classified into two major
groups of 36 each. The first set of 36 ragas all have one common Svara, the
Sudha Madhyamam and the second set of 36 ragas all have one common
Svara, the Prati Madhyamam. Within these two sets of 36 ragas each, they
are further sub-divided into groups of six ragas for each group.

One of the characteristics of a Mēlakarta raga is that in each raga, all

seven svaras occur in either the Ārōhana or the Avarōhana that is, they would
be Sampūrna. Of the seven svaras, the first four ‘srgm’ are called Pūrvāńga
svaras and the remaining ‘pdn’ are called the Uttarāńga svaras. The note
Paňchamam does not vary and is fixed. Of the remaining two svaras d and n,
Dhaivatham can occupy three positions or three variations and the
Nishādham for two positions. Therefore, the three uttarāńga svaras can
provide six variations as follows:

1. Pa - Da (Suddha Dhaivatham)- Ni (Suddha Nishādham) - ṡ

2. Pa – Da (Suddha Dhaivatham) –Ni (Kaisiki Nishādham) - ṡ
3. Pa – Da (Suddha Dhaivatham) – Ni (Kākali Nishādham) - ṡ
4. Pa- Da (Chatusruthi Dhaivatham) – Ni (Kaisiki Nishādham) - ṡ

It should be remembered that because Suddha Nishādham has the

same Svara position as Chatusruthi Dhaivatham, only one can be used at any
given time.

5. Pa – Da (Chatusruthi Dhaivatham) - Ni (Kākali Nishādham) - ṡ

6. Pa – Da (Shatsruti Dhaivatham) – Ni (Kākali Nishādham) - ṡ

From these combinations of variations in uttarāńga svaras and the

fixed notes, 72 Mēlakarta ragas are formed. From out of these seventy two
Mēlakarta ragas, numerous Janya ragas are derived by varying the ascending
and descending scales, by adding or subtracting one more notes in the
ascending or descending scales.

Importance of Ārōhana and Avarōhana

Ārōhana and avarōhana is one of the important factors that go to build
the melodic individuality of a raga. This is the first detail that a student should
become familiar with. The mēlakarta to which a raga belongs is determined by
its Ārōhana and Avarōhana. If the raga in question is a janaka raga, its
Ārōhana and Avarōhana will, as already mentioned, be sampūrna. The
Ārōhana and Avarōhana constitutes the briefest description of a raga and is
like a theorem in geometry. It gives a concise form of the outline or frame
work of the raga. It defines the contour of the raga. The normal sanchārās that
the raga admits of are directly revealed by its Ārōhana and Avarōhana.
Sometimes a rare prayōga is incorporated in the Ārōhana and Avarōhana (Ex
- Nātai) and in few instances, the Ārōhana and Avarōhana instead of being in
a concise form is slightly expanded and presented. Janṭa svaras, dīrgha
svaras, and Kampita svaras figure in the Ārōhana and Avarōhana of some
ragas. All these features serve only to reveal better the melodic individuality of
those ragas. Instances of such ragas are however not many.

Classification tables of Mēlakarta Rāgas

As stated earlier, the 72 Mēlakarta ragas are divided into two main
groups based on the Madhyama Svara of ‘m’. There are 36 ragas with
Suddha Madhyamam and there are 36 ragas with Prati Madhyamam to form a
total of 72 Mēlakarta ragas. The first six chakras are referred to as Suddha
Madhyama chakras and the second six chakras are referred to as the Prati
Madhyama chakras. Each of them is further divided into groups of six ragas or
Chakras. Ragas within a chakra will have identical one of the following three
notes: Rishabam, Gāndharam and Madhyamam. The following table
illustrates the grouping;
 From the names of the ragas, we will be able to identify the Mēlakarta
to which it belongs. This is provided by the kaṭapayādi scheme. According to
this scheme, the first two letters of a raga will lead us to identify the mēlakarta
to which it belongs. The following table is useful for this purpose.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0

ka kha ga gha nga ca cha ja jha nya

ta tha da dha na ta tha da dha na

pa pha ba bha ma

ya ra la va sha shha sa ha

For example, the first two letters of the raga nagaanandini are na & ga
and from the above table, you can locate these two consonants in column 0
and column 3. When we reverse the numbers 0 & 3, we get 30 which can be
related to Mēlakarta 30. This can be verified from the table of Mēlakarta ragas
provided above.

Bhūta sankhyā
It may incidentally be noted that the names of the chakras are based
on Bhūta sankhyā and are themselves suggestive of their serial numbers.
Bhūta sankhyā system is a method of recording numbers using ordinary
words having connotations of numerical values.

First half comprising the Suddha Second half comprising the Prati
Madhyama or the Pūrva mēlakarta Madhyama or the Uttara mēlakarta
(1-36) (37- 72)
Number Name of Mela Rāgās Number Name of Mela Rāgās
the chakra included in it the chakra included in it
I. Indu 1–6 VII. Rishi 37 - 42
II. Nētra 7 - 12 VIII. Vasu 43 – 48
III. Agni 13 – 18 IX. Brahma 49 – 54
IV. Veda 19 – 24 X. Disi 55 – 60
V. Bāṇa 25 – 30 XI. Rudra 61 – 66
VI. Rutu 31 - 36 XII. Āditya 67 - 72

Thus Indu means moon and there is only one moon; and the name naturally
suggests the number one for the first chakra.

Likewise, Nētra 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,
Āhavanīya and Gārhapatya.

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

Bāṇa stands for number 5. The Pancha Bāṇās of Manmatha 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 six seasons of the year according to the Indian calendar
are, Vasantā, Grishma, Varsha, Sara, Hemanta and Sisir.

Rishi stands for 7, the Sapta rishis being Gautama, Bharadvaja, Visvāmitra,
Jamadagni, Vasishta, Kāsyapa and Atri.

Vasu stands for 8; the ashta Vasu are Āpa, Dhruva, Soma, Dhare, Anila,
Anala, Pradyūsha and Prabhāsa.

Brahma stands for 9, the Navabrahma or 9 Prajapatīs being Angīrasa, Atri,

Kāsyapa, 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, north-west, south-east, south-west and
above (Ākāsa) and below (pātāla).

Rudra stands for 11, because of the concept of Ekadasa Rudrās in the sacred
literature: Aja, Ekapāta, Ahirbudni, Dvasha, Rudra, Hara, Sambhu,
Tryambaka, Apārijita, Isānā and Tribhuvana.

Āditya stands for 12, because of the concept of Dvādasa Ādityās (12 suns),
Mitra, Ravi, Surya, Bhānu, Bhaga, Pūsha, Hiranyagarbha, Marichi, Āditya,
Savttra, Arka and Bhāskara.

Janya and Janaka Rāgās

Ragas are classified into janaka and Janya ragas. This is a highly
scientific system of classification. The terms janaka raga, mēlakarta raga,
mela raga, Karta raga, Sampūrna raga, parent raga, fundamental raga, root
raga and primary raga are all synonymous and mean the same thing.
Likewise Janya ragas are known by other names as derivative ragas and
secondary ragas. Janaka ragas possess the full complement of Sapta svaras
in both Ārōhana and Avarōhana and the notes ascend and descend in a
regular order. In addition the svaras are of the same kind in both the Ārōhana
and Avarōhana. These are the three characteristic features of janaka raga.

A Janya raga is a raga, which is said to be born or derived from a

mēlakarta raga. Every Janya raga has its parent scale or janaka raga. A
Janya raga takes the svaras same as the svaras taken by its parent raga. The
mention of the name of the janaka raga therefore gives the clue to the svaras
taken by the Janya raga. Thus when it is said that Māyāmāḷavagouḷai is the
janaka raga of Malahari, it means that the svaras taken by Malahari raga are
the same as the svaras taken by Māyāmāḷavagouḷai. Occasionally Janya
ragas take one or two foreign notes (notes foreign to its parent raga) for the
sake of enriching their beauty.

Classification of Janya Rāgās

Janya ragas are further classified into four groups, namely;
» Varjya Rāgās
» Vaḳra Rāgās
» Upānga Rāgās
» Bhāshanga Rāgās

Let us discuss about each of them now.

» Varjya Rāgās – These are those Janya Rāgās wherein one, two or three
svaras are deleted either in the Ārōhana, Avarōhana or both. Depending
on the number of svaras present in the Ārōhana or Avarōhana, Varjya
Rāgās are classified under eight heads. The terms sampūrna (all the
Sapta svaras being represented), Shāḍava (only 6 being represented, i.e.,
one note being varjya) & Auḍava (only 5 being represented, i.e., two notes
being varjya) are used to describe the Ārōhana and Avarōhana in this
connection. The Tāra Sthāyi shadja is excluded in calculating the number
of svaras present in the Ārōhana and Avarōhana of Rāgās.

The eight kinds of Varjya Rāgās are: -

i. Shāḍava – Sampūrna
Example – Khambōji - s r g m p d ṡ – ṡ n d p m g r s

ii. Auḍava – Sampūrna

Example – Bilahari – s r g p d ṡ – ṡ n d p m g r s

iii. Sampūrna - Shāḍava

Example – Bhairavam – s r g m p d n ṡ – ṡ d p m g r s

iv. Sampūrna - Auḍava

Example – Sāramati – s r g m p d n ṡ – ṡ n d m g s

v. Shāḍava - Shāḍava
Example – Ābhōgi: s r g m d n ṡ - ṡ n d m g r s

vi. Shāḍava - Auḍava

Example – Nātakurinji – s r g m d n ṡ – ṡ n d m g s

vii. Auḍava - Shāḍava

Example – Vasantā – s g m d n ṡ - ṡ n d m g r s

viii. Auḍava - Auḍava

Example – Amruthavarshini – s g m p n ṡ - ṡ n p m g s