The 72 melakartas
Every Carnatic parent scale (melakarta): its number, name, chakra and swaras, with the notes for your Sa. Press Play to hear one up and down.
Numbers, names, chakras and swaras of all 72 melakartas.
Play sounds each melakarta up and down evenly, in equal temperament. A melakarta is a scale: the ragas built on it each move in their own way.
How the 72 are built
- Sa and Pa never change. Ma is either M1 (shuddha, natural) or M2 (prati, raised). Ri, Ga, Dha and Ni each have three named forms (R1 to R3 and so on), but Ri must sit below Ga and Dha below Ni.
- That leaves six Ri–Ga pairs (R1 G1, R1 G2, R1 G3, R2 G2, R2 G3, R3 G3) and six Dha–Ni pairs in the same pattern (D1 N1 … D3 N3): 2 × 6 × 6 = 72.
- The 72 fall into 12 chakras (groups) of six. Inside a chakra the Ri–Ga pair stays the same and the Dha–Ni pair steps through its six forms in order. Chakras 1–6 take the Ri–Ga pairs in order with M1; chakras 7–12 repeat them with M2, so melakarta n and n + 36 differ only in Ma.
- Chakra names, in order: Indu, Netra, Agni, Veda, Bana, Rutu, Rishi, Vasu, Brahma, Disi, Rudra, Aditya.
Names that carry their number
The names were fitted to the Katapayadi code, in which consonants stand for digits. Read the digits of the first two syllables of a name backwards and you get its number. For example, Dheerasankarabharanam: dha = 9, ra = 2, so 92 read backwards is 29; Mechakalyani: ma = 5, cha = 6, and 56 backwards is 65. Above 36 the number itself tells you the raised Ma. One name, Simhendramadhyamam, gives its number only if it is respelled.
Venkatamakhin (17th century) is credited with the 72-scale scheme and Govindacharya with the names used today; the code was applied about a century after Venkatamakhin.
All 72
| No. | Name | Chakra | Swaras | Semitones above Sa | Notes for Sa = C | Play |
|---|
No melakarta matches. Try a number from 1 to 72, part of a name, or clear the filters.
Names follow the usual accented spellings; search also finds the alternative spellings and other names. Notes are spelled one letter per swara, so some melakartas need a double flat (𝄫) or a sharp on Ri or Dha.
The swara codes
- S Shadjam (Sa) and P Panchamam (Pa) are fixed. M1 Shuddha Madhyamam, M2 Prati Madhyamam.
- R1, R2, R3 (Rishabham), G1, G2, G3 (Gandharam), D1, D2, D3 (Dhaivatam), N1, N2, N3 (Nishadam): the number counts the forms of that letter, lowest first.
- Sixteen names on twelve pitches: R2 and G1 share a pitch, as do R3 and G2, D2 and N1, D3 and N2.
- A thaat (Hindustani) and a melakarta with the same seven pitches are the same scale. Same notes does not mean same raaga.
Keyboard shortcuts
- /jump to the search box
- DSa drone on or off
- Escstop every sound
- ← →move Sa down or up a half step
Shortcuts pause while you type in a field or use a menu.
Letter, number and punctuation shortcuts can be turned off: use the Keyboard shortcuts switch in the footer, under Display. Space, Enter, the arrow keys and Esc keep working.