CHAPTER-I

RAGA CLASSIFICATION
IN INDIAN MUSIC
 RAGA CLASSIFICATION IN INDIAN MUSIC

India has a very rich heritage in music. The history and evolution of
music since the vedic age is voluminous. The stage by stage development of
music to its present dimension is miraculous and astounding. The culture of
music and other arts depends upon the socio-economic conditions of the country.
The temple sculpture, stone inscriptions, cave temples, coins, works of foreign
artistes, travelogues and the like that are not subject to the ravages of time and
weather shed their light sporadically on various stages of its continuous
development. It is said that Indian music is as old as 4000 to 8000 years. We get
information about music from buddha-jaina sources. In Ramayana, there is
reference to Ravana who played his vina in madhyama grama because it
consisted of a thrisruthi panchama [kaisika]. 1

The rishis in India began to traverse the paths of civilization and ultimate
truth through their meditation as early as the homosapians began to work for
their existence. The early Indian along with a taste for music fostered and
encouraged handicrafts, cloth making, sculpture, painting and designing of
various musical instruments. If one analyses the nature and sound produced by
them, one would be able to discern the depth and information that they had in
sound and notation. There are instances to show that even before the arrival of
Aryans, there existed a civilization in the country and that civilization was ahead
of all other ones in the world. The fact that a civilization had been existing here

I Evolution of Indian classical music during medeival period. Ch-1, pg.8 by Neeraja Bhat
nagar.
 3

even before 2000 BC is referred to in the Rig Veda. When the Aryan exodus to
this country began they came to know that there was already a community here
quite urban in their outlook. They wore gold ornaments and knew the art of
making weapons like long spears with metal edges. In the southern parts of the
country the Saivaites who practised Tamil culture had thier own laws and
disciplines in social life. They did not engage in animal hunting for pastime or
for food. The Aryans found it easy to mix up with their culture. Their
characteristic incantation of manthras correlated with the system of worship of
the South Indians and thus a new form of music evolved which can be named
South Indian Music or Indian Music. Civilization and music were so much
related in this respect and one's development was complementary to the other,
not contradictory. About 2300 year ago during the time of Panini2 that music
developed a scientific basis and classical bent. And this classical music attracted
and influenced foreign countries like Egypt, Russia, Arabia and Greece. It was at
this time that the seven swaras were represented through seven letters. Indian
music was known at that time as 'Gandharva Veda'. The group of 7 swaras is
known as 'gamut'. The word 'gamut' came from the words gama (Indian) and
gamma (Greek). About 2,500 years ago, it was during the Brahmin period that
the music scale came into existence in Indian music. Consequently, through the
Brahmin sect it spread to other countries. Indian music was known at that time as
Gandharva Veda.

"Vethi dharmadharmou ithi Veda:

This doctrine defines Veda as that which clearly distinguishes dharma and
adharma. Vedas are four in number and they have sub texts and branches.
Gandharva Veda is a sub text of Sama Veda.

2
Panini says in Ashtadhyayi about various instruments and also terms like githi, giiyaka,
giiyana etc. Ref: Dr.Vasudeva saran Agarwal-Bharathiya sangit ka ithihas ch 12.
 4

A volumnious text on Gandharva sastra is believed to be written by the

Rishis Narada and Thumburu and this work is regarded as the fundamental
treatise on Gandharva Veda. A part of the work has been recovered and the
credit of this noble discovery goes to the University of Punjab. In this work
Gandharva Veda is thus summed up.

3
Gandharva Veda shad thrim sad Sahasra grantha samhitha:
Yathra saptha swarotpathi kaJhanam parikfrthyathe
Vfna thantram kala thantram raga thantramanuthamam
Misra thantram tala thantram gTthika thantramevacha
Liisikolliisika thantram me/a thantram mahiiJharam
Jiithi, graha, laya sthiinam margiinga prakriya kriya
Kalajnanam vadya val!T tribhinnadhyayamevacha
Thuranga rathi sarangam simha !Tliivijrumbhanam
Angahara pravikshepiidhyiiya: samkshobhanakriyii:
Evamadfthi gandharva veda santhi sahasrasii:

Gandharva4 Veda has thousand branches. Though all the ancient texts deal
with gandharva Veda it is a mystery that when and by whom it was composed.

'Gandharva' meant celestial or well regulated and 'Ganam' coloured in

Desi ragas and ta.las was for entertainment. Abhinava, in his commentary on
Natyasastra describes that Gandharva and Ganas had different styles of singing.

3 Taken from Dr. Lecia Omcheri' s collection. In the opinion of Mrs. Omchcri, it is not
so an ancient text as it is claimed to be since vina thantram and kala thantram are
written as seperate granthas. Ref. The early writers on Music by Vinchamuri varaha
narasimha Achari.
4 According to Sarangadeva Gandharva is that type of music which is exclusively
devotional and practised by saints for acheiving spiritual realisation (Vol. II. chap. IV,
sh. I, p.p 203).
 5

They differ in the aspects like swariipa, purpose or how they serve on occasions
with distinct functions. In Gandharva the rules regarding the distance between
the sruthis are very rigid.
1
eg: ri1 should be on the third sruthi of 1 sa1
1
ga1 should be on the second sruthi above ri.

In gana, no such rigid laws are maintained. In gana, Kakali - Antara

swaras are profusely used. In Gandharva a 1 fourswara1 octave cannot be
permissible, but in gana it can be used. It is very important that in jathis and
thanas of Madhyama grama, 1 pa1 was indispensable and in those of shadjagrama,
Dhaivata was never dropped. Madhyama is an essential part of all jathis without
the question whether it was born out of 'sa1 grama or 1 ma 1 grama. Vayupurana
dated to third century AD was the most extended purana and its 86th 87th
chapters deal with music. 5 Pushpa Suthra6 which was written some times
between the 5th and 2nd centuries of BC also contains reference to music.

The ancient book Tolkappium, was written long before Illangovadigal and
it was placed before the first 'sangam' at the time of Nilandaruthiruvil Pandya.
In this book 'Tolkappium' there is a description of an old musical instrument
called Yazh. Makara [Sa], Kurinchi[ma], Naital [pa], Palai[ni] were the four
types of yazh which had accepted four swaras as foundation. Music had an
inevitable part in the yagas also. In the performance of yagas vedic hymns were
chanted to the accompaniment of vana. 7 That is why the nature of singing swaras

5
Mukund Lath - A study of Dattilam pg 45.
6
Walter Kauffmann - The Ragas of South India - Oxford).
7. The vana vina had 10 holes in it fitted with threads with minja gras
 6

one after the other existed in the Indian style where as grouping of the allied
swaras (harmony) is the Western System. Singing of one swara, followed by the
other can be labelled as the melodic system. It is a matter of pride for Indians to
know that even the western style of grouping the similar swaras is also a
technique developed from the early Indian style. Even the five lined notation
system of westerners have its origin in the old system of gathra vina8. Sama
vedic notation is numerical.1,2,3,4,5,6 and seven are the numbers denoting the
notes m,g,r,s,n,d and p respectively. The figure which was put on the top of the
first letter of the sama chant indicates the adhara swara of that particular song.

2 2 3

Eg: Om- tat- saviturvarenyam.

Vedic hymns are chanted in particular sound group. Each sound is uttered
in 'Shadjam' or 'Tharashadjam', the two distinct tones. The harmony system that

evolved out of this is now being practised by the westerners. With the habitual

practice and acceptance of the hexatones, it was discovered that various other
possibilities can be explored by combining different tones to form different

scales. The Rishis of India to suit their life style of meditation and concentration
formed an appropriate melodic system. Enormous concentration, experience with

spiritual trials and strict puritanical style of life adhered by the yogis modified

the music system. Difference in climatic conditions and life style had a great
sway in the evolution of music. The melodic system supplemented them with

8
Method used to denote the notation of sama chanting by the gestures with the palm of the
right hand. Ref: Swami Prajnananda - pg 258. The fonn and function of music in ancient
India.
 7

greater concentration, mental agility and ultimate bliss. From the Rig vedic age
onwards (3000-2500 B.C.) we come across proofs of political, social and

religious organisations among the Aryan people. They use to perform sacrifices
and sacred rites and used to sing songs with different tones on those occasions.
The rules and regulations governing the songs are found in the Sikshas,
Prathisakyas and Brahmanas. During vedic period India had a systematic culture
in the art of music. In Sangita Ratnakara, Saranga Deva says, ''Sama VedaJ
idam geetham samjagraha pithamaha. '' Which means that Brahma has given the
foundation of sangita from Samaveda. Naradi Siksha and Pushpa Sutra described
about the Samans and different methods of singing. The Saman tones were on
the downward movement while the later Jathis are of upward movements. The

Saman s were sung according to the alterations of letters by the vowels. These
elongated rendering were called Stobhas. The Sama Veda is the musical version

of Rig Veda.. It may be noted that both the metrical names Gayathri and

Pragatha used in Sama Veda have a musical significance. Sama Veda is the Veda
related to music.

In the Samagana scale it is found that krushta (original) is the highest tone,
which has been fixed at 2 and that of pracheya, the drone of Saman chant at 1.
The original (prakriti) and subordinate or deviated (vikriti) forms of music were
also prevalent. The abhigata or the conjunction of the unit of a half time
measure (ardha matra) has been indicated by particular sign in the Sama
paribhasha. (1, 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/5, 1/6). A streched wire over 2 supports when
plucked will produce a sound.When these vibrations were reflected from the
supports we will get several notes in a harmonic series like 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/5,
1/9 etc. The early indians built the vina frets according to this theory. Hence the
 8

birth of an octave in the. ratio 1, 8/9, 4/5, 3/4, 2/3, 16/27, 8/15 and 1/2
respectively. At first 4 notes with harmony to krishta were introduced and
mandra and athiswarya were added next.

The nature and movement of the sapthaswaras during the post vedic music
were similar to that of the vedic one. In samagana the notes were used to sing in
the descending order while the notes are in the upward progression in the post
vedic classical tones ie shadja, rishabha etc. It is found that in the middle age the
musical notes of nearly all the civilized nations of the middle east and west were
of ascending trend. While commenting on this feature, Dr. Felver has asserted
that the samagana is more than 3000 years old and that there must have been
inter-relation between Indian culture and the oriental culture that is culture
developed in the countries of middle east and west.

Observing the ratio of vibrations it is easier to understand the relation of

the notes. The interval between the 8 notes are in the ascending order.
(9/8,10/9,16/15, 9/8,9/8,10/9,16/15). In European music 9/8 is the ratio of a
major tone. Ratios 10/9 and 16/15 are considered as a major tone and a minor
tone respectively. All other ratios are the combinations of these tones and semi
tones. The fraction 9/8 is approximately equal to (16/15)2 and 10/9 equal to
(16/15) 3/2 and thus these intervals are approximately in the proportion 4,3,&2.

9/8 = 4 sruthi interval

10/9 3 sruthi interval

16/15 = 2 sruthi interval

Hence the hepta tonic interval starting from krishta gives the sruthi
distribution as 4 - 3 - 2 - 4 - 4 - 3 - 2.
 9

Grfunageya and Aranyageya ganas are 2 types of vedic chants. The grama
geya - ganas were constitutedof those Sfunans or melodies which were practised
in particular communities, societies or localities where as aranya geya ganas
were constituted of those Sa.mans which were sacred and secret. They were
studied and practised exclusively in the forest and was regarded as the rahasya
gana before the sacrificial altar. Aranyageya gana evidently belongs to an early
stage of vedic civilisation. While Aranya geya gana was purely religious and
spiritual, grama geya gayana, was more developed and it was meant for the
people of refined taste.
·'

From the early stages onwards there were melodies to suit occasions like
dawn and dusk Then came further classification in tunes to suit each yama such
as Raga for the morning and for the night. Any time one sings the Prabhatha
Raga, the sentiments of morning will be felt by the singer and the hearers.

EVOLUTION OF MUSICAL NOTES

It is said that music started with one note and then gradually culminated
into seven. There is no doubt in the opinion that the hexa tonic scale was an
Indian invention. Even the most civilized Greeks used only four notes at that
time. In ancient India the primary method of singing was in one note known as
archika gayana ie pertaining to Richa or a stanza. With the addition of another
note the second stage was ushered in and it was called gathika gayana. Rishi
Viswamitra and his clan were known as gathina or the singers of gatha meter.
The ancients continued the same trend.

The third stage known as samika gayana brought into vedic music three
notes. The vedic rishis first chanted their hymns in this metre and it is continued
 10

to be the metre of the vedic music even today. These primitive notes are ni sa
and re which are anudatta (not raised), swaritha (accented) & udatta (raised)
respectively. Sa.man scale is the basis of music. First came the swaras U dattam,
Anudattam and Swaritham (R, N S). Later when the swara G was introduced,
Swaranthara cast (G R N S) came into existence. Next, with Dhaivatham, it
became pentatonic and then as hexatonic M G R S N D and finally heptatonic. M
G R S and S N D P were recognised as two equal tetra chords. Prathisakhyas
speak of the notes termed as Udattam, Swaritham. Pracheyam and Sannatara.
The notes sa, ma and pa were also known as uncreated or Swayambhu. Later on,
a fourth note was added. Thus the scale got the notes prathama, dwiteeya,
thriteeya and chathurtha. The note lower than the fourth was called mandra.
Sama scale was in the descending order and the last note of the scale below
which the singers did not usually go, was called atiswarya and the highest note
krushta. The Sama vedic notes are called as Ya.mas. The scale started with
madhyama (loukika). The names given to the notes starting with ma are krushta
(m), Prathama (ga), Dviteeya (ri), Thriteeya (sa), Chathurtha (ni), Mandra (dha)
and Athiswarya (pa). Some times this scale started with panchama and also some
in a transient order in which the positions of ni & dha were reversed. In course of
time, though the scale became in ascending order the interval of notes were the
same and it was called as suddha scale of Indian music up to the time of saranga
deva. There were singers taking five, six or seven notes according to their
tradition. Singers of 'kouthama sakha' used all the seven swaras where ever
necessary. Samagana scale is equated with the well known South Indian raga
kharaharapriya by scholars.
 11

The science of Indian classical music and the analytical study of swaras
and sruthis have progressed in subsequent times; but the ground work of all this
is in the Samaveda, the ultimate source. Above all, the high devotional and
spiritual value we attach to our art of music is derived from the spiritual fervour
associated with Sa.man singing. In the manner of vedic Sa.man singing, in which
the swara notations are immutable, there arose a body of songs sung in jathis
called marga or gandharva in the form of praises of Lord Siva . Born of the
Sa.man they are the precursors of the still later ragas whose swara notations were
also held sacrosanct. This is because of its high spiritual expediency to yoga, that
the lord said of this Veda in the Bhagavatgeeta; 'Vedanam Samaveda smi '.

Swara Old name No: of Intervals

Vibrations

Krishta Nishada 480 9/8 4 sruthi

Prathama Shadja 540 10/9 3 sruthi

Dwiteeya Rishabha 600 16/15 2 sruthi

Thriteeya Gandhara 640 9/8 4 sruthi

Chathurtha Madhyama 720 9/8 4 sruthi

Panchama Panchama 810 10/9 3 sruthi

Atiswarya Dhaivata 900 16/15 2 sruthi

Krishta Nishada 960 9/8 4 sruthi

Prathama Shadja 1080

 13

sr uthi may properly be assigned to the beginning of the classical per iod in the
600-500 B.C., when the loukika gandharva type of music gained ascendency
over it. Brahmabharata was the first promulgator of the gandharva type of music,
and afterwards it was made perfect by Narada of the 1 st century A.D and
Bh aratha (2nd B.C). Narada h as mentioned about 5 basic minute tones - dipta,
ayata, karuna, mridu and madhya and h e called it as sruthi.

Bh arata has systematically, determined and arranged the 22 sruthis and he

h ad also determined th e exact bases of the seven notes making experiments with
ch ala vTna and dhruva vTna. All th e tones of music before the Christian era were
pure and not displaced (vikrita). In Natyasastra, we find 2 tones as vr ikitha and
they are anth ara gandhara and kakali nishada wh ich were displaced by two
sr uthis of madhyama and sh adja respectively. So in the beginning of th e
Ch ristian era the tones were d ivi ded into two suddha and vikritha. Th e
displacement in the tones were due to th e sh ifting of the subtle micr otonal units
of the tones through the centuries. Among the vikr itha swaras a particular tone
was placed on a particular sruth i. The essentials in Bh arata' s Natyasastra could
have existed even in the pre Christian era. Gradually th ere happened many
adventures in the domain of ragas, marga and desi, urban and rural, from th e
3 rd_

4th centuries to 5th _ 7 th centuries A.D. Th e trayo dasa lakshanas played an

important role at that time for determining their classical character.

Change in the Sruthis of Indian Music

Let us examine the division of Sruthi of 4, 3, 2, 4, 4, 3, 2. The division of

the swara sy stem, from sa to sa seems more feasible than beginning from ni to
ni. The ancient stringed in struments th at were tuned from nishada to nishada
 14

might have been partially responsible for this development. Shadja swara can be
sung in two ways.

a. Plain Swara

b. Applying gamakalankaras and passing through different lower Sruthis

andfinally reaching the perfect 'sa '.

In the second method there should be provision to use the gap between the ni
and sa in a comfortable manner (as desired) this could be the reason of the practice
of the Sruthi system from the ni to ni. If we raise ga and ni up to antara gandhara
and kakali nishada, four other vikrita swaras will result. Ma and Sa are termed as
'achyuta sa' and 'achuta pa' or vikrita sa or vikrita pa because their Sruthis are
lowered. Vikrita Panchama of Grama sadharana was considered as a separate
vikrika though it was really the chyuta panchama of madyama grama. There are
twelve vikrita swaras according to Saranga deva and this theory is indebted to
'Bharata mata'. In Hanuman mata, the fixation of SA and PA are in the place of
ri and pa of Bharata mata9 . In Shadja Grama panchama occupies the 1 ] Sruthi
1h

(Alapini ) while in Madhyama Grama it occupies the 16th Sruthi (Sandipani). The
well asserted notes have always been a safe process of finding other notes and the
tonal system becomes more scientific. Thus prominent ragas came in to existence.
When a semi tone is applied beside Shadja or Panchama , in addition to the self
asserted ga and pa, it will give rise to the 51 st mela Kamavardhini (Ramakriya,
Sadari) The chyutha madhyama, chyutha panchama madhyama mentioned by
Sarangadeva and Ramamatya are fivratama madhyama according to S6manatha.
This madhyama in the 15th Sruthi is definitely in the position of pratimadhyama.
Tivrathara madhyama occupies the shadsruthi interval of ri, ie Suddha gandhara .

9
Ragas of Tanjore. Pg. 40- Hariharan - Kuppuswasmi.
 15

Ragas corresponding to the seven miirchanas of shadja Grama are as

follows:

Name Graha Scale Resulting mela

Uttara mandra s srgmpdn Kharaharapriya

Rajani N nsrgmpd Sankarabharanam

Uttarayata D dnsrgmp Thodi (Bhavapriya)

(with 2 madhyamas )

Suddha shadja p pdnsrgm Nata bhairavi

Matsarikruta M mpdnsrg Harikamboj i

Aswakranta G gmpdnsr Kalyani

Abhirudgata R rgmpdns Hanumatodi

Suddha scale

The Suddha scale of present Hindustani music is the nishada murchana of

shadja grama. Similarly rishabha murchana of the new Suddha mela is the old
shadja Grama and dhaivata murchana of the present Suddha mela is the old
madhyama grama. All the vikritaswaras of the present day music were used in the
old gandhara - madhyama - nishada murchanas. Panchama murchana gives
dhaivata and Kamala ni each a Sruthi lower. These are the old Suddha dhaivatha
and nishada respectively. In madhyama Grama ragas, panchama is lowered just
one Sruthi and it was referred to as varali madhyama or mrudu panchama by
various lakshanakaras. It should be remembered that the presence of the note prati
madhyama can be seen in the ragas of madhyama Grama and also in nishada
murchana.
 16

Sa-Miirchana - Sankarabharanam

Ga- miirchana - Bhairavi (ma - one Sruthi lowered)

Ma- miirchana - Kalyani (ga - one Sruthi lowered)

Gandhara madhyama miirchanas of Shadja grama namely Bhairavi and

Kalyani correspond to the panchama- dhaivata miirchanas of madhyama grama.

Suddha vikrita swaras and the vowels used

Shadja Sa

Kamala rishabha Ra

Suddha (Tivra) rishabha Ri

Kamala gandhara ga

Suddha (Tivra) gandhara gt

Kamala (Suddha) madhyama ma

Tivrama madhyama mt

Panchama pa

Kamala dhaivata dha

Suddha (Tivra) dhaivata dhi

Kamala nishada na

Suddha (Tivra) nishada Ill

The different orderly combinations of these swaras give nse to the

following scales.

I Sa ra ga ma pa dha na sa Bhairavi

2. Sa ra gi mi pa dha na sa Vakulabharanam (Vasanta Bhairavi)

 17

3. Sa ra gi ma pa dha ni sa Malava goula (Bhairavam)

4. Sa ra gi ma pa dha na sa Vega vahini

5. Sa ra gi ma pa dhi ni sa Chayavati

6. Sa ri ga ma pa dha na sa Natabhairavi (Asavari)

7. Sa ri ga ma pa dhi na sa Kharaharapriya, (Sriraga, kaphi)

8. Sa ri gi ma pa dhi na sa Kamboji (Kamaj)

9. Sa ri gi ma pa dhi ni sa Sankarabharanam

10. Sa ra ga mi pa dha ni sa Subha panthuvarali (Thodi, old Varali)

11. Sa ra gi mi pa dha ni sa Kamavardhini (Purvi, Rama kriya)

12. Sa ra gi mi pa dhi ni sa Gamanasrama (Marva, Gamaka priya )

13. Sa ri gi mi pa dhi ni sa Kalyani.

The scales 2, 4 and 5 were rarely used and the remaining scales comprises
the 1 O thattas.

RULES OF NOTE MODIFICATION

Shadj a

Originally shadja has 4 Sruthi sthanas, but when kakali swara is applied it
reduces to 2 sruthis. In 'shadja siidhiirana' also shadja has only 2 Sruthis, But
these two positions are different, In 'shadja sadhiirana' what happens is the loss
of first and last sruthis (towards 'nishada' and rishabha respectively).

Rishabha

Rishabha has 3 sruthis. In shadjasiidhiirana, rishabha gets one more sruthi

of shadja. When gandhara remains as 'amsa swara' rishabha increases by one
sruthi. When it just preceeds the gandhara, 'vivaditwam' occurs.
 18

Gandhara

Gandhara has 'Ayata', madhya and mridu sruthis. Ayata gandhara happens
when neecha rishabha is present. In the same way mrudu gandhara occurs when
gandhara is followed by madhyama. When the two gandharas are applied one
after the other madhya gandhara is made use of.

Madhyama

Madhyama is the first swara of Sama sangita

Panchama

Panchama has 4 Sruthi and the third sruthi is panchama and it is the
panchama of madhyama grama..In Madhyama sadharana, panchama, though its
position is not different it is described as raised 'p' (Utkrishta panchama)

Dhaivata

Dhaivata has 3 sruthis. When Nishada becomes amsa 'dha' will get one
sruthi more and also causes 'vivaditvam'

Nishada

Modifications of nishada are similar to that of gandhara. Naturally Nishada

occupies the second position. It raises and lowers when followed by 'd' and 's'
respectively.

From the above description it can be seen that a five sruthi interval between
two swaras is undesirable ('anishtam', unpleasant).

Eg: When shadja gandharas occur with an interval of five sruthis, it is

applied as shad sruthi. Similarly when nishada is used after panchama, nishada is
sung with one sruthi raised. An eight sruthi interval also is not desirable Hence
 19

when gandhara is followed by Panchama, gandhara is raised to one sruthi to

reducce the interval to 7 sruthis to achieve consonance.

When rishabha is taken as amsa, gandhara lowers to the first position to

become ekesruthi (Mahati) because its position in the second sruthi will cause
vivaditva.

The same situation happens when Nishada and dhaivata become amsa.
The five, eight and two sruthi interval are undesirable and inorder to get
consonance, the 7 suddha swaras seem to attain many variations. Dvisruthi
intervals can be raised and chatursruthi can be reduced by using kakali and
antara swaras. Chatursruthi is the first swara in samagana. The thrisruthi, the
next one, moves up and down. Dvisruthi pervades over the swara sthanas above
and below. The four sruthi swaras are confined to Anthara Kakali positions
Chatursruthi will never become pancha sruthi

Eg: gandhari, janya of madhyama grama taken chatursruthi rishabha and

chatursruthi dhaivata. More than that they are used as alpaswaras. Kaisika swara
is present because of the presence of shadja siidhiirana and hence the name
shadja kaisiki

Sadharana swaras are present m all the jathis except m Dhaivati and
Arshabhi. Bhairava had used anthara-kakali swaras sparingly.

Kakali Nishada is defined as the brilliant swara raised by 2 sruthis higher than
divisruthi nishada. It cannot be considered as graha swara as it is a modified
note of nishada. In the opinion of Bharata muni, Kakali antara swaras are not to
be added to the seven suddha swaras since they are merely modifications of
nishada and gandhara.
 20

Antara - kakali swara rules

In the sancharas like m-g- r-m or m-g-m, antara swara occurs and they are
followed by the next higher swaras similarly in s n d n s and s n s Kakali swara
is applied. Antara Kakali swaras will not be in harmony with avaroha thana
murchanas.

Division of Srutis

Sarangadeva and the followers had accepted 22 srutis. But srutis are
considered infinite in number by some lakshanakaras. There are other theories
that number srutis as 23, 64, 27 etc. 10

It is not right to fix a particulat sruthi to a partiular raga, In my opinion the

sruthi will vary according to the moulding of raga rupa.

Eg: Yamuna Kalyani. (rishabha- chatursruthi) - low type

Sankarabharanam (rishabha- chatursruthi) - high type

The concept of jathi can never be compared to mela or raga, It can be

defined as raga family. (Raga kula having common melodical characterstics. In

10
One sthayi is considered a blend of 27 sruti and the theory can be clearly proved by the
following method.
In one octave there are five minor notes and five major apart from shadja and
panchama, Minor swaras like r g m d and n have 3 sruti sthanas each and thus in
total there are 15 sruti sthanas.

A--------- b-------- C

One in the centre one below and one above. In the same way the tivra swaras like r 2, g
2, d2& N2 each has two sruti sthanas. Eg: Anthara gandharam, chuyta madhyama
gandhara. There also ten smti sthanas occur. The 15 varities of minor swaras, the 10
varieteis the thivra swaras and the 2 shadja panchamas form the total of 27 smtis. This
method of smti division is more simple and easily comprehensible when compared to the
old system of 22 smties (4 3 2 44432).
 21

Hindustani Music it can be seen as Darbari group, Kalyan group etc. In Kamatic
Music these group formations are not present, but there are groups like
nishadandya, panchamandya etc. and closely allied groups.

Eg: Darbar and Nayaki; Kedara goula- Suruti, Narayana goula.

The exact character of the raga can be revealed not only through the arohana
- avorohana but also through minute but important factors like visesha prayogas,
amsa, nyasa etc.

According to Kallinadha, Dombakri is another name for Bhupali, Desavala is

Kedaragoula. and Taurushka is Malavagoula.

EVOLUTION OF SCALES

Scale can be defined as arrangement of seven different tonal notes. This is

the fundamental source of ragas. Ragas of different tonal changes are formed
when each swara of the fundamental scale is taken as basic swara. This is termed
as modal shift of tone.

Our musical history is sprawled between the ancient, medieval and modem
periods. The ancient period ranges from the Vedic music upto the 9111 C. (Matanga).
Medieval period lies between 9111C. and l 6111C (Purantaradasa) From Purantaradasa
till today the period can be called as modem era. In the ancient period Indian
music was apparently performed in three basic scales. Shadja, Madhyama and
Gandhara Gramas. The Sruthi values were determined only by the sense of
hearing.

Shadja Grama

s r g m p d n

4 3 2 4 4 3 2
 22

Sa starts from the 22nd sruthi of nishada.

N s R G M p D N

22-1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22

N4-S' 3-R' 2-G' 4-M' 4-P' 3-D' 2-N. S starts from the 22nd Sruthi of
Nishada.

This arrag
n ement of sruthis is the same as that of the Arumpalai of the

Tamils.

s 0 interval
R = 3 interval
G = 5 interval
M = 9 interval
p 13 interval
D 16 interval
N = 18 interval
s = 22 interval
The pairs Sa - Pa, Sa - Ma, Ri - Dha, Ga - Ni, are samvadis in Arumpalai.

In Sagrama Sa = 1; ri = 10/9 Ga = 10/9x 16/15 = 32/27; Ma = 32/37x 9/8 = 4/3

Pa = 4/3 x 9/8 = 3/2; Da = 3/2 x 10/9 === 5/3; N- = 5/3 x 16/15 = 16/9;
S = 16/9 X 9/8 = 2.

Madhyama Grima

s rg m p d n

4 3 2 4 3 4 2
 23

In this, Panchama is lower by one Sruthi from the Panchama of Shadja

Grama. The third Sruthi of Panchama is taken as Pa and fourth is Dhaivatha. All
other swaras function as Suddha Swaras.

N s R G M p D N
22-1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22

Ri - Pa relation having 9 sruthi interval is taken in Madhyama grama .

Pa of Sa grama = 3/2 while pa of ma grama = 40/27

Difference between Sa grama Ma grama is a comma interval

Rx M = 10/9 x 4/3 = 40/27

The difference between the panchamas of the two gramas= 3/2 divided by
40/27 = 81/80 =1 pramana Sruthi.

Gandhara Grama

s r g m p d n

3 2 4 3 3 3 4

This is considered to be celestial. The Swaras S, M and N are not S uddha

Swaras. Gandhara has an additional sruthi and hence there are in all 4 swaras
which deviate from their real positions.

N s R G M p D N

22-12 3 4 5 67 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22

In 'm' grama 'p' is 1 sruthi lower than that of 's' grama. Gandharagrama
was more difficult to follow and hence it became obsolete till the time of
 24

Sarangadeva. Except Nishada and Gandhara all the other sruthis differ from 's'
grama.

In Gandhara grama,

S & m = I sruthi lower than that of 's' grama.

r & d = 2 sruthis lower than that of 's' grama.

p = 3 sruthis lower than that of 's' grama.

Naradiya Siksha" of Narada Muni (I century AD) makes a mention of 7

grama ragas. But Dattilam (2nd cen tury) gives 18 Grama ragas.

The seven Grama Ragas ofNarada Muni are:

(I) Shadja Grama

(2) Madhyama Grama

(3) Shadava Grama

(4) Sadharitha Grama

(5) Panchama Grama

(6) Kaisika Grama

(7) Kaisika Madhyama Grama

The scales of these Grama are given in the in scriptions of Kudumiamalai.

From these it has to be inferred that Grama Ragas and jathiragas existed even
durin g the time of Bharatha an d Dattila.

After the period of Bharatha region al tunes influenced sasthriya san gita
and gave birth to Bhasha Ragas. Bhasha ragas are classed into Moo la (origin al),
San keerna (mixed), Desya (regional), Chayasraya (depen den t).
 25

Brih addesi of Matanga th at succeeds the work of Bharatamuni is a milestone

in Indian Musicology. S.R., written five centuries after Matanga which leads all
other Sangita Granthas, h as establish ed itself as an auth entic work.

EVOLUTION OF GRAMA RAGAS

The six (ment ioned in Harivamsa) or seven (mentioned in Naradi siksh a &
Kudimiamala) grama ragas were pure or suddh a ones and afterwards 23 mixed
grama ragas evolved. Th ere was a time (5 th_ 7 th century) wh en githis were known
by th eir ragas, and so they came to be known as the raga gitis. Though th ere are
controversies as regard to their number, yet most of t he ancient musicologists are
of opinion th at th ere were 5 main ragangas and they are suddha, bhinna, gouda,
vesara and sadharani (Brihaddesi). It h as been said that the pure type of the grama
ragas were six or seven in number. Afterwards th e vikrith a grama ragas evolved.
From Grama Ragas gradually murchanas originated.

Following are some facts noticeable

1. The murchana of Rishabh a is the old shadja grama main scale.

2. The murchana of Dhaivata is the old madhyama grama.

3. The murchana of gandh ara, madhyama and rishabh a give all th e vikrita notes
in use in the present day music.

4. The note panch ama does not under go any variation except in th e madh yama
grama and th e murchana of nish ada, where it becomes identical with Tivra
madh yama. ie., In madh yama grama 'p' changes from chatur sruthi to
trisruthi.
 26

The fact that a miirchana of the shadja grama could also be a product of
madhyama grama, which was also noticed in the case of the old scales, has
helped in the amalgamation of the latter grama with the former. This, in turn,
made the note shadja as a fixture. In the time of sarangadeva, when madhyama
grama was in use, in which the 'madhyama' and not shadja was taken as the
chief note, there used to be songs without shadja. The amalgamation or abolition
of the madhyama grama which has variations of panchama , left madhyama also
as one not undergoing any change. Hence in the present day music Shadja
and Panchama are both fixed notes, the former being indespensable at the same
time.

The miirchana of madhyama consisted of the fivra madhyama and

panchama. Tivra madhyama is 2 sruthis lower than panchama. In madhyama
miirchana apart from suddha swaras the above mentioned swaras are also
present. The Tivra madhyama occurs in the miirchana of nishada also as a
modification of panchama, where it is 2 sruthi higher than the suddha m, which
is itself present, and is assoicated with the other vikrita swaras. 'Tivra' therefore
suits well with many of the notes, and is almost next to s in importance. Of these
murchana scales the main one is known as Bilaval (sankarabharana); the
murchana of gandhara with 'm' a sruthi lower, is called Bhairavi; that of
madhyama, with a sruthi lower, is called yamana (Kalyani); the other 4 were
not being in use now. It may be noted that Bhairavi and Kalyani are the
panchama and dhaivata miirchanas of madhyama grama respectively. The 3
scales Sankarabharanam, Bhairavi and Kalyani of today's music are the old
grama ragas. The following are the basic mela ragas (Thatta). Out of these
Vasanthabhairavi, Vegavahini and Chayavati are rarely used and the others are
common.
 27

1. Bhairavi 2. Vasanthabhairavi 3. Bhairava 4. Vegavahini

5. Chayavati 6. Asaveri 7. Kaphi 8. Kamaj

9. Bilaval 10. Th odi 11. Purvi 12. Marva

13. Kalyani.

Ancien t texts talk about 21 Murch anas. It is Murchanas th at are fundamental

to expose the characteristic ofRagas. Murchanas were formed out of 12 swaras.
Bharatha and Nandikeswara, Narada and Kalidasa have referred to Murchanas.
There are al together 14 Murch anas formed from Sh adja, Mad hyama Gramas.
Gradually Murchanas gave way to new scales (Melas or Thattas). During th is time

scales were classified as Grama scale, Murch ana Scale; and Melakarth a Scale.
The usage of"Melakar tha"was followed by musicians ofSou th India and "Thatta"
was followed by musicians of North India. Even during 14th century
Madhavacharya and Vidyaranya refer to 19 Melas. Later Ramamatya (16th cen­
tury) talk of20 melas and Pm;idarika Vittala (16th AD) of 19 melas. Yet only in
Ragavibodh am of Somanath a (17th AD) concrete form and definition of mela is
given. Suddh a, Vikrita (flat and sh arp) swaras, th rough different permutations and
combinations result in 960 melas. Raga Tarangini of Lochana Kavi talks of 12
melas. May be that the basic Hindus tani ragas developed from these melas.

(1) Bilawal, (2) Kalyan, (3) Kh amaj (4) Bhairav, (5) Poorvi, (6) Marva,
(7) Kaphi, (8) Asaveri, (9) Bhairavi, (10) Th odi.

It is said th at th e scale of t he Saman singing began wi th the vedic tone

krushta corresponding to the loakika tone panchama of the lower octave in a
downward process. The civilized nations ofyore were conversant with th e process
ofdevising modal shift oftonic or basic tone. It is said that shadja grama was th e

fixed scale of the vedic music samagana, and this scale was of 3 kinds, low,
 28

medium and high according to their bases in the 3 registers mandra, madhya
and tara.

Murchanas:

The foundation of the ancient music had been traced to the grama -
Murchana - Jathi System. According to Bharatha, murchanas are the orderly
sequences of the seven notes. Murchanas are of three kinds namely Suddha,
Kakaliyuktha and AntaraYuktha. Murchanas, when Kakali nishada and Antara
Gandhara are applied are called Sadharani. Penta tonic and hexa tonic scales
were called Thanas. 11

Shadja Grama has seven Murchanas viz.

1. Uttharamandra s r g m p d n (Kharaharapriya)

2. Rajani n s r g m p d (Sankarabharanam)

3. Uttharayatha d n s r g m p (Nil)

4. Suddha shadja p d n s r g m (Nata bhairavi)

5. Matsareekritha m p d n s r g (Harikamboji)

6. Ashwakrantha g m p d n s r (Kalyani. )

7 Abhirudgatha r g m p d n s (Hanumatodi)

Like wise the seven madhyama grama murchanas are,

1. Souveeri m p d n s r g (Harikamboji)

2. Harinaswa g m p d n s r (Kalyani. )

3. Kalopanatha r g m p d n s (Hanumathodi)

11
N.S IV P24 VS. 32.
 29

4. Suddhamadhya s r g m p d n (Haraharapriya)

5. Margi n s r g m p d (Sankarabharanam)

6. Pouravi d n s r g m p (Nil)

7. Hrushyaka p d n s r g m (Nata bhairavi)

The murchanas of the past are usually considered plain scales still there are
certain intricate elements in their charactersics which should be taken in to
account. In each ragas Murchana, graha, amsa, kala, variation in sthana of Sruthi.
(Sruthi kalarp) and affinity of certain swaras (swara kalarp) are of immense
importance. 'Kala' means the sustaining of the notes. The mode of exerting
.
preassure on swaras 1s a1 so very reve1 ant 12.

The Bilawal thatta in Hindustani Music corresponds to the Margi

Murchana of Madhyamagrama. The Tarras are dependent on Murchanas. There
were 49 hexa tonic thanas and 35 penta tonic thanas a as a whole gives 84
scales. 13 The murchanas are recognised as the receptacles (adhara) of ragas.
Matanga and Nadikeswara have mentioned about the murchanas, constituted out
of 12 swaras, where as Bharata and most of the post Bharata musicologists have
recognised murchanas with only seven swaras. During Bharata' s time the
gandhara grama became out of practice, and so he mentioned about 7 & 7 = 14
murchanas of the gramas in shadja frame. Narada of Makaranda, the
Puranakartas like Kalidasa and others have mentioned about the murchanas of
gandhara grama. Gradually the murchanas came to be replaced by the new
scales or melas or thatas or melakarthas or samsthanas. Thus we find the stages
of the scales as (1) grama scale (2) murchana scale (3) mela kartha scale.

12
Eg: In Thodi raga no swam is given preassure but in kharaharapriya , rishbha
has to be sung with preassure
13
Ref: Jayadev Singh -Bharatheeya Sang1t ka Ithihas Pg. 341- 343
 30

EVOLUTION OF THE JATHI RAGAS

During the time of Bharata Muni himself Gandhara Grama has gone out of
use..Natya sastra speaks of eigteen melodic structures named as jathi with ten
charecteristic features emerged out of shadja Grama and madhyama grama. The
pure or suddha jathi ragas were named after sapta swaras and they are called
shadji, arshabhi., gandhari, madhyama, panchami, dhaivati and nishadi or
nishadavati In the Suddha jathi, the nyasa swara is the mandra swara it self, where
as in Vikrita jathi the rule is relaxed.

Suddha jathis from 's' grama - shadji, rishashi, dhaivathi, nishadi

Suddha jathis From 'm' grama - gandhari, madhyama, panchami

Shadji

In shadji jathi, sadharana swaras could be used. It had five possible amsas as
s,g,m,p & d.Nishada and rishabha are deleted . The swara pairs s-g & s-d have
sangathi (association) (a typical to and fro movement-antara marga - Brihaddesi)
in between them.when it is sung as shadava, nishada becomes varjya.

Arshabhi

N, r & d are amsa swaras. When 's' and 'p' are omitted , the scale becomes
audava and when 's' alone is omitted it becomes shadava .Abhinava gupta in his
commentary states that "shadja heene shiidava : shadja panchamor hine
audavitatvam. "

Here the word 'heena' can be used in another version as applying alpatwa to
those particular notes.Along with shadja and panchama, gandhara also is
considered as an alpa swara.When sung as audava,the scale deletes gandhara and
madhyama.
 31

Dhaivathi

In Dhaivati jathi,Rishabha and dhaivata are amsas. R,d and m are

apanyasas.If panchama is dropped it becomes shadava and if 's' and 'p'are
dropped it becomes audava.Along with 'r'and' d' gandhara also is a bold
note. The presence of 's' and 'p' is restricted in the arohana 14 only the structure of
the jathi in the audava state is extra ordinary because both S&P are absent. The
deletion of Sa is permitted in thetime of jathis.

Nishadini

Nishadini takes Rishabha and the dwiswaras'n'& 'g' as amsas. 'n' is a nyasa
swara.Even though the shadava-audava qualities are similar to that of dhaivathi
jathi, there may be difference in the usage of antara marga feature

Gandhari

Rishabha dhaivathas are not amsas.If they are omitted, shadava -audava
jathis occur respectively.Sand P are apanyasas.The movement from 'd' to 'r' is a
characteristic feature of gandhari..

Pancha mi

In Panchami , 'p' and 'r' are amsas.Since 'n' and 'g' are not amsas,Kakali­
antara presence should be there.In the shadava type 'g' is deleted and in audava
jathi ;g' and 'n' are deleted.The madhyama swara is very weak in panchami. 15

14
N.S-28,100-101
15
Mukund Lath-Dattila-A Study-Pg-229.
 32

Madhya ma

In madhyama excepting the dwiswaras ga & ni, all other five are amsa
swaras. Shadava is formed by omitting gandhara and audava by omitting
gandhara and nishada. It has madhyama swara as nyasa and pa as apanyasa.
Shadja is abundant.

There are 11 vikrita jathi ragas formed by combining Suddha jathi ragas ..

(1) shadja kaisiki Admixture of shadji & Gandhari

(2) shadja madhyama Admixture of shadji & Madhyama

(3) Gandhara panchami - Admixture of gandhari & Panchami

(4) Andhri Admixture of gandhari & Arshabhi

(5) Shadjodichyavathi Admixture of shadji, gandhari & Dhaivati

(6) Karmaravi Admixture of arshabhi nishadi & Panchami

(7) Nandayanthi Admixture of arshabhi gandhari & Panchami

(8) Gandharodichyava - Admixture of gandhari, dhaivathi,

shadji & Madhyama

(9) Madhyamodichyava - Admixture of gandhari, dhaivathi madhyama

& Panchami

(1O) Raktha gandhari Admixture of gandhari, nishadi,

madhayama & Panchami

(11) Kaisiki Admixture of shadji, gandhari,

madhayama, panchami dhaivati & N aishadi

 33

Shadja kaisiki- It does not permit audava or shadava jathis.In this, s,g and p are
weak.According to Abhinava and Matanga the notes 'm'and 'r' also are weak.

Shadjodichyava - 'Udichya' means that which is familiar in northern regions or

came from north.It takes s,m ,d and n as amsas.The notes 's'and 'd' are
apanyasas.Madhyama is nyasa and gandhara is profusely used in the mandra
sthayi.The pairs s-m&d-n have sangati in between them.

Shadja madhyama-All swaras are amsas and hence kakalyantara swaras have no
place. When 'n' is deleted it becomes shadava and when ;n'& 'g' are avoided it
becomes audava.

Rakta Gandhari-A typical type of movement is there in between 's' & 'g'
.Madhyama is apanyasa . All other characteristics are similar to that of the
gandhari jati. Gandhari & Rakta gandhari are said to be come shadava with the
omission of rishabha but in madhyama Grama ,the swaras ri&pa are having
samvaditwa. So in these jathis panchama will not come as amsa because if pa is
taken as amsa then its samvadi ri can not be omitted.

Gandharodichyava: 's'& 'm' are amsas.'s'& 'd' are apanyasas. Madhyama is

nyasa and 'g' is used frequently in the lower octave.The sangati between 'm'& 'r'
is prominent than the sangati between 'n' & 'g'.

Gandhara panchami: It shows both the characteristics of gandhari and panchami

jatis. Hence D&R ,M-R & N-G pairs have sangatis .Bharata adds that gandhara
above the tara shadja is restricted. Pa is the amsa swara in gandhara panchami.

Andhri :. S,m &d are not amsas.Andhri takes gandhara as nyasa and n,r,g&p as
amsas. The amsa swaras are also considered as apanyasas. Movement between g
 34

and r is prominent. Shadava type deletes shadja. In the rendering, the first note
should be amsa. It shold be followed by a non amsa swara and it ends in a nyasa

Nandayanti : Gandhara is the graha and nyasa. Panchama is amsa and m & p
are apanyasas.When it is sung as shadava jati, shadja is omitted. Audava jati was
not in use.The sanchara is restricted above thara shadja. Mandra rishabha is
profusely used.Nandayanti is a combination of the jatis panchami, arshabhi &
gandhari. Since Andhri is the combination of gandhari and arshabhi, there may
be some similarities. But Bharata states that they differ in the swara movements.

Karmaravi : Gandhara is the most prominent note. Not only the amsa swaras
but also the non-amsas have movement with gandhara. Since the amsas and non
amsas are equally strong,we can differentiate them only through antaramarga.
The amsaswaras are emphasized in sthayi varnas and non amsas are emphasized
in sanchari varnas

Kaisiki: The dwisruthiswaras g and n are nyasas. If 'r'is dropped it becomes

shadava and if 'r' and 'd' are dropped it becomes audava.Nishada and dhaivata
are amsa and nyasaswaras. Rishabha can be taken as apanyasa when the jathi is
in the puma form. On other occasions when rishabha is weak, the sanchara
resembles shadja madhyama jathi. Panchama&nishada are strong notes.

Sarangadeva states that an expert scholar could detect the chaya or

structure of the raga riipa in its parent jathis.

Eg: the image of Vara.ti is clearly seen in shadji jathi. Similiarly Desi and
Madhukari can be traced to arshabhi jathi, just as Coksha shadava and Andhali
are seen in Madhyama jathi. In shadja kaisiki, traits of Gandhara panchama, Hindola,
 35

Velavali and Desi are reflected 16

Many of the Ratnakara ragas are still popular in
North Indian music. Besides, it is seen that Sarangadeva had borrowed a great deal
including terms and melodies from dravida sangita. Ancient tamil ragas viz
panchama, Gandharapanchama, Takka raga etc had been in existance long before
Sarangadeva and Bharata. Ragas of the present day are new forms of jathis.. The
attempt to examine jathis is of purely academic interest. As a result of my studies
in this field, I have realised that it is diffifuclt to determine pure sruthi sthanas of
ancient music. Still I have made an effort to trace the path way of the ancient
ragas.

Bihag , Garuda dhwani, Janaranjani etc belong to the Naishidi jathi.

Kuntala varali, Sahana, Mand etc belong to the Madhyami jathi of madhyama
grama. Naishadi jathi of madhyama Grama includes ragas like Mohana, Bangala
etc and Kalayani raga of modern music is the Suddha jathi 'gandhari' of ancient
music. 'Ni' murchana of sa grama comprises the notes of Sankarabharana itself.
'Kallinadha ' illustrates Dombakri and Ramakriti are another names for Bhupala
and Bouli. Ramakri was also known as Pantuvarali later. Like this Desavala
gouda became Kedara goula;

Jathi Lakshanas

(1) Graha (2) Amsa (3) Tara (4) Mandra (5) Shadava (6) Audavita
(7) Alpatva (8) Bahutva (9) Nyasa (10) Apanyasa are the characteristics of jathis
in accordance with their form. Bharata also mentioned these 10 essentials for
determining the character of jathis which are also applicable to new ragas.

16
SR-I, 7.64-80
 36

Graha- amsa: Though Bharata scientifically used the essentials, there was some
confusion in the connotation of some elements. 17

Graha is the commencing note of a song or part of a song. When a raga

fully manifests itself from its starting point it was called amsa. In the old treatises
like Sangita ratnakara, the term 'amsa was used to denote the tonic note . But later
texts like Chathurdandi-prakasika mentions amsa as a lakshana in the
classification of ragas. Thus Graha makes the sense of tonic note. During the
period of Matanga he took graha as the starting note of the ragas and amsa as the
predominant note of the raga. Subbarama dikshitar in his Raga tala chintamani
states that graha swara other than the tonic note was being in practice 300 to 400
years ago.

Tara - mandra : They are meant for the higher and lower notes respectively in the
general sense but in the context of jathi lakshana these terms have slight
difference. The tara of a jathi indicated the highest note in the higher octave up to
which the jathi could ascend and similarly mandra is the note up to which the jathi
can descend .To avoid this confusion sage Bharata uses the expressions like
taragathi (upward movement) and mandragathi (downward movement).

Bahutwa- Alpatwa:- Bahutwa means the ample use of a note. It could be

effected in 2 ways (I) by alanghana ie by not transgressing it rendering a melodic
movement and (2) by abhyasa, ie the frequent repetition of it. The notes other than
vadi and Samavadi in which the bahutwas can be used were known as paryaya or
alternative amsas. Alpatwa is just the reverse of Bahutwa. It was effected by
langhana and anabhyasa. The first was effected by gliding over a note or in a way

17
"Grahastu Sarva Jathi namamsamevahi kirthitha:" "yat pravrutham bhavet ganam
somsograha vikalpitha:"
 37

that left it unemphasised and thus rendered it subordinate to the emphasised note,
(langhana) or by avoiding to repeat it_(anabhyasa). Thus to make ajathi shadava
or audava it should be rendered by dropping some notes or sometimes made
alpaka or weak.

Shadava - Audava:- The well defined omission of one or 2 notes gives shadava
and audava respectively.

Nyasa - Apanyasa:- Nyasa is the note on which a melody comes to rest.

Apanyasa is a nyasa with in a vidari, when vidari is small section of the whole
melody.Bharata states "Nyasa occurs at the end of anga(body) and that should be
made twenty one fold.. Apanyasa is fifty six in number." 18

N.S. recounts one mode element of the jathi character known as Antara
marga. Sangitaratnakara and later texts include antaramarga as a jathi lakshana
and add two more, namely sanyasa and vinyasa and thus making thrayodasa
lakshanas. Both sanyasa and vinyasa appear to have been sub divisions of
apanyasa. Antara marga, sanyasa & vinyasa are the 3 excluded from the
thrayodasa lakshanas. Kallinatha says that antara marga is only a mode of
combining the various elements of jathi such as amsa and has, therefore not
been seperately enumerated. Supporting Saranga Deva Kallinatha adds that it is
the mode by which various elements of jathis are related to each other.
According to him sanyasa and vinyasa also are two essential components of
jathi. Dattila defines sanyasa as a note which is not a vivadi of the amsa and
which served as the final note (Nyasa) in the first vidari. He does not mention vinyasa
Vinyasa is the note which is placed at the end of a single pada or word with in a vidari unit.

18
Natya Sastra - vs. 28-72.
 38

Su ch a note could be samvadi or anuvadi of the amsa swara. Saranga Deva se ems
to have based up on Abhinava's comments on Bhara ta's defini ti on.

A Chart showing some of the old jathi ragas

Name of Nyasa Arnsa or Apan- Varji tha Remarks as

ja thi tune notes vadi yasa swaras i f any to the valu e
of the notes
me ant

Shadji s sgrnpd p n Notes in

karnajrnela

Arshabhi r rdn rdn sp Notes in

karnaj rnela
wi thd & n
fla ttened

Gandhari g sgmp sp rd Notes as in

Bha iravi rnela
usingrn, p &
n fla ttered

Raktha g " g " Notes as in

gandhari Kalyani. rnela

Madhyarna Ill srmpd srmpd gn Notes as in

Kalyani . rnela

Pancharni p rp rpn gn - do -

Karmaravi p rpdn rpdn Notes as in

karnaj rnela
wi thr, d &n
fla ttered

Dha iva ti d rd rrnd ps Notes as in

Bilaval rnela

Na ishadi n sgn sgn pm - do-

Ka i siki gpn sgrnpdn sgprndn rd Notes as in

Bha iravi rnela
 39

Consonance of Chords

This method was realised by Greeks even before 2000 years ago. The group
of 3 swaras may be called 'Thrik'. In 's' grama consonace of S 3 r 2 g is with p
2 d 2 n. It is not consonant with the p 4 d 2 n of madhyama grama. In shadja
grama ragas, r & d relation is high. Like in the'm' grama this kind of relation is
between r & p. In the saptaka the dhaivatha is the last swara which is believed to
be discovered by Muni Thumburu. It is described in Ratnakara in detail.. If the
mandra shadja swara of Thamburu is considered as 'madhyama swara', those
who are well trained in music can hear the 'Dhwani' of dhaivatha along with the
madhyama swara. It is called swayambhu dhaivatha. Muni Thumbura promoted
this note from upadhwani to a dhawani and called it dhaivatha first and
completed the saptaka.

In vipanchi 19 the suddha swaras like Antara ga & Kakali ni are depicted
According to Tamil version, the 2 notes p and m above 'g' and below 'd' and
were added by Ravana who aimed at conquering the Tamil country by his
gandharva music. 2

REFERENCE OF SOUTH INDIAN MUSIC

Both Northern and Southern systems have drawn inspiration from Bharata's
Natya Sastra which was compiled from the ancient authoritative works of
Brahma or Brahma Bharatha and Siva or Sadasiva Bharatha in the 600-500 BC.

19
Nanya Deva quotes Matanga as follows: . The swaras of the scale in vipanchi is s, r, g,
Ant g, m, p, d, n & kakali ni. It is the shadja grfuna moola murchana.
 40

Th ough music in general h as evolved through time, the Dravidian music

stuck to its old foundation. Th ough many of the ancient Dravidian books on
music were destroyed Tamil ragas continued to survive through oral means is a
matter that is very much consoling & comforting. Exercising on these ragas
patiently and constantly they were transferred to th e next generation. Earnest
and devoted musicians alone could practise th em and keep them in memory. It is
because of this, th at the notation technique has gone expanded, but it stands
incomplete still.

There are ever so many cases in point in Chilappathikaram written in the

5th Century by Illango Adikal in the time of Cheran Chenguttavan. This ancient
piece of literature refers to other books pertaining to music and dance. Agastya
Muni, Sikhandiyar,Yamaledran, Cheyittiyanar, Naradar etc. are the eminent
composers of ancient Tamil music. There are a lot of works written in between
th e first and third sangha periods. Perunarai, Perum Kuruhu, Isai Nunukkam,
Indrakaliyam, Gunanul, Sayantham, Kuthanul, Seyittiyam, Pancha Bharatiyam,
Panchamarapu, Bharatasenapatiyam, Chittisai, Perisai, Nadakatamilnul
(Mativanar) are some of the ancien t tamil gran thas20 'Divakaram' a Jain literary
work is about Tamil music. Tevaram is referred t o in th at book as sacred h ymns.
The quintessence of it is the h oly
words of the Saivite monks Thirujnana
Sambandh ar and Sundara Murthy Nayanar who lived somewhere in between 7 th
and 9th centuries. The tevara music includes the following:

1. Arohana & Avarohana

2. Varjya vakra krarna

3. Graha, ams a, nyasa swaras

20
Isai Iyal-Prof.Ponnayya Pallai-pg-135-Publ.Annamalai Uty-1956.
 41

4. Rakthi prayogas

5. Dhatu prayogas

6. Characteristic sruthi and gamaka

The ragas coming under the category of 'pagal pann' lravu pann based on
the rules of time- bound ragas are suitable to be sung on any occasion. In the
Tamil style of music Harikambhoji scale is considered to be the basic. In the book
named 'paripadal', written by N allandavanar, in the early phases of the Christian
era, there are debates on Tamil music. The 22 sruthis are called Alakukal and
Mathirai means 'locutor'. The basis of all the 22 srutis is the relationship between
swaras and samvadiswara. In between these swaras all sruthis are divided into 4,
3 and 2 . The 'pal)gal' are categorised as Palai Kuriji, Mullai, Marutham, Naithal
on the one hand and Palai, Kurinchi, Marutham and Chevvazhi on the other. These
are said to be the basic moulds of the ragas. 'Kural, Thuttam, Kaikilai, Ulai, Iii,
Vilari and Tharam are the names given to the seven swaras.

It is said that the standard or Suddha scale of Tamil music was

Harikambhoji. They were handed down by oral tradition like the sacred hymns of
Vedas. They were mainly presented in the temple by both men and women.

There are 21 scales in Tevaram. The scales indicate the panns and their
current names and numbers under the 72 mela scheme.

No. Pano Raga Mela Number

1. Gandharam Gayakapriya 13

2. Piyandhagandhara m Gayakapriya 13

3. Indalam Lalitha panchama 14

4. Panchama Ahiri 14
 42

5. Srikamaram Nadhaniimakriya 15

6. Kurinji Malahari 15

7. Vyazha kurinji Saurashtram 17

8. Kausikam Bhairavi 20

9. Chenchurutti Madhyamavathi 28

10. Nattapadai Nattakurunji 28

11. Takkesi Kambhoji 28

12. Sevvazhi Yadukula Kiimbhoji 28

13. Panjuram Kedaragoula 28

14. Kolli Sindhu Kannada 28

15. Kolli Kavvanam Sindhu Kannada 28

16. TakkaRagam Kambhoji 28

17. Pazham Thakka Suddha Saveri 29

18. Megharaga Kurinji Nilambari 29

19. Pazham Panchuram Sankarabharanam 29

20. Andhali Kurinji Saila Desakshi 35

21. Puraneermai Sreekanthi 46

22. Sadari Panthuvarali 51

23. Nattaragam Panthuvaali 51

24. Thiruthandakam Begada 29

The vadi, samvadi, anuvadi and vivadi swaras were termed Inai, Kilai.
Nattru and Palai respectively in Tamil. It is said that there were more than 12000
 43

panns m Tamil music. The works Gouri katakam, Hanumath katakam and
Vya sakatakam etc described about these ragas. Kudumia Malai in Tamil Nadu is
known for temple inscription of Pallava times. It can be deduced from these

inscription s th at grama ragas were in vogue in Dravidian music. The music of

th ese days had close relation to the Divya Prabandh as of Vashnavaites of Tamil
Nadu. Palai, Nattram, Marutha, Kurinji, Kaisikam are the ragas found in
Pasurams (hymns) by Alwars. In addition, raga s like Puraneermai, Gh andh aram,
Piyanthai Gh andh aram, Thakkesi, Gandhara Panchamam, Megh araga Kurinchi
were also in use. A list of some Dravida ragas & their modern equivalen ts is
given earlier.

It has been noted th at almost all the ragas used in the thevaram were
adapted to the great works like Sangita Ratnakaram. Illangovadikal lived in the

Ist century and th e authors of Th evaram between 9th to 11th centuries. Saranga
Deva' s expre ssion Daka Thevara vardhani indicates hi s connection with karnatic
music. It is said that Tamilmusic exi sted thou sands of years of back before the

time of B harata and Sarangadeva. In Sangitaratnakaram, S.D. describes 31

raganga ragas (One in th e Pazh am Takka raga, one in Indalam, one Nata
ragam, two in sadari, seven in panchamam,nine in kousikam and th e ten other
different kinds which h ave been sub divided into raganga, bh ashanga, kriyanga
and upanga .Hundreds of janya raga s (kilai pann) also have been dealt with by
him. The janya ragas derived from the raganga raga s 'Thakka' & 'Kousikam'
h ave been named as ·Takka vibhasha thevaravardhani' and 'Maiava kou.§ika
thevaravardhani' th us showing their origin from thevaram.

Takka is ch anged in to Dakka and Kousikam became Malavakousikam.

Takka corresponds to Kamboji and Kousikam Corresponds to B h airavi. The
thevara pann Sadari (Panthuvarali) h as been changed to rupasadharitha. Vairavam
(B hairavam), Kousikam (Maiava kousikam), Indalam, Megharagam, Cheeragam
 4
4

(Sri) are the five mother ragas of ancient Tamils which were said t o have been
borrowed by B h arata . The ragas B h airavam, Panchamam, Nattam, Dhanyasi, Sri
ragam, Natta Naraynam, Gurjari, Purvagandh aram, Karna.tam, Megh amallari
(Megha), Vara.ti, Goudi, Velavali e tc. existed at the time of Acharya Pingala. 21

Music of ancient Tamils is based on the sa-pa and sa-ma series. Th e device
used by Sarangadeva in calculating the 2
2 sruthis
(Alagu in Tamil) is as follows.
His system is4324432. Here we find the the swaras with the cycle of 5 th _ (s-p)

The distance from s to p 3-2-4-4 =13

Dist ance from r to d 2-4-4-3 =13

Dist ance from g to n 4-4-3-2=13

Distance from m to s 4-3-2-4 =13

Distances from p to r 3-2-4-3=12

Distances from d to g 2-4-3-2=11

Dist ances from n to m 4-3-2-4 =13

This is the Alagu system of Naithal yazh of Tamil. The shadja grama
resembles those of Neythal yazh. M grama stands for kurinji yazh, and g grama
for palai yazh. It might be said th at gandharva grama became obsele te because it
did not have the concordance between s-p or s-m cycle.

s-p 3+2+4+3 = 12

s-m 3+3+4 = 10

There were a tot al of103 panQ.S derived from the 12 palais. The 12 palais
are the primary scales.The author of karmamrutha sagaram, Abraham Pandith er

21
Ref. page 551 Karunamritha sagaram I)
 45

quotes from pingala Nighandu that many ragas generate from each of the yazh .
From each of the four yazh, seven palais are derived as well as the 21 melas used
in ancient times with different numbers of swaras such as six (Iyal - shadava),
five (Thiram - audava) and four (Thirathiram - swaranthara).

Music in Chilappatikaram

Progression of fifth ie, Shadja Grama was referred to as 'Ilikki Grama' by

Elangovadigal. Kural, Tuttam, Kaikilai, Uzhai, Ili, Vilari and Tharam denote the
swaras s, r, g, m, p, d, n respectively.Among these Uzhai from Tharam, Kural
from Uzhai, Ili from Kural, Tuttam from Ili, Vilari from Tuttam and Kaikilai
from Vilari originated. Uzhai occupies the position of eighth Sruthi sthana and
fifth swara sthana from Tharam (N). In the same manner Kural, Ili, Tuttam,
Vilari, Kaikilai should be on the fifth swara sthana and the eigth Sruthi sthana
from their place of origin. Palai yazh is tuned according to the Ilikki Grama or
shadja grama.

Kural Tuttam Kaikilai Uzhai Ili Vilari Tharam

4 4 3 2 4 3 2

0 4 7 9 13 16 18 (Vattapalai)

If Uzhai comes in Tharam (of Vattapalai)-Palai yazh .(Hari kambojii)

If kural(s) comes in uzhai(m) -Kurinchi Yazh (Sankarabharanam)

If Ili (p) comes in kural(s)-Marutha yazh (Kalyani.)

If tuttam (r) comes in Ili(p)-Neythal Yazh (thiraniyal )

 46

Shadja Grama or Ilikki Grama when started from thuttam(r ) Chevvazhi

pann (Thodi) is got. Early Tamil Music connects music and jyothi sastra.The
seven swaras were fixed in the Zodiac regions like Taurus, cancer, Leo, Libra,
Sagittarious, Aqarious and Pisces. 22 When Palai Yazh is subjected to Sruthibheda,
seven palais are obtained. Adiyarku Nallar speaks about two types of Sruthibhedas
namely valamurai and eda murai. Saranga deva"s Shadja Grama murchanas can
be compared to the 7 palais emerged out ofpalai yazh by model shift of tonic.

In Vampurn marapu(new tradition) the author describes about Arum palai

and the other 7 palais derived from it..

Arum palai

4 3 2 4 4 3 2 --- Arum palai ( kharaharapriya)

3 2 4 4 3 2 4 --- chevvazhi ( thodi)

2 4 4 3 2 4 3 --- patumalai palai ( Kalyani. )

4 4 3 2 4 3 2 --- chempalai ( Harikamboji)

4 3 2 4 3 2 4 --- meechem palai ( Natabhairavi)

3 2 4 3 2 4 4 --- valari palai ( nil)

2 4 3 2 4 4 3 --- kootti palai

( Sankarabharanam)

After a thorough study in the lakshanas of old ragas Tamil Isai Sangam have
arrived at some conclusions. They have found the corresponding old ragas and
how they became altered as time passed ..

22
Music in chilappatikaram-Dr. S Ramanathan-Madurai Kamaraj University
 47

Shadava - Audava Ragas

Mullai panl} : It is an audava Janya or Thiram having 5 notes as Kural (s), Tuttam
(r), Uzhai (g), Ili (p) and Vilari ( d). Shadja , Chatur-r, Antara-g, p, Chatur -d, are
the swaras of Mullai pan!). which corresponds to Mahana. In 81h Century.
Thiruvachakam was sung in this raga by Manikavachakar.

Sriraga: is referred to as the Aruku (Janya) of chevvazhi. Sangita ratnakara

classifies Sriraga under shadja Grama .

Ahari: Chempalai was the mother raga of Ahari. This raga was referred to in
sangitha Ratnakara, swaramela kalanidhi etc; Keeravani is the new raga
corresponding to the old Ahari.

Thodi: It is famous in South India. Tamilians refers to this as chevvazhi.

Gandharam : It is the janya of chempalai the note corresponds to modern

Navaroj (Harikamboji).

Chenthurutti: It corresponds to Madhyamavathi under Harikamboji ( chempalai).

Some important scales of Tamil music

Palai pann Karnataka raga

Chempalai palai- yazh Harikamboji

Kuttipalai Kurinji Sankarabharanam
Padumalai palai Maruta Kalyani.
Chevvazhi Chevvazhi Thodi
Vilari palai was not in use because it takes two types of madhyamas.
Adiyarku N allar classified the scales as puram, Arugu, perugu which cannot be
defined correctly. He adds that 12 palais and 91 Urus gives a total of 103 paQ.ns.
 48

Pano Pu ram Arugu Perugu

Palai Thivali Cheerkuttikam Naka ragam

Kurinchi Chenth Mandalam Ari

Marutam Akari Chayavilarkolli Kinnaram

Chevvazhi Velavali Cheeragam Sandhi

HINDUSTANI MUSIC & KARNATIC MUSIC

Fundamentally, in Indian concept music is classified into Marga Sangita

and Desiya Sangita (Celestial & Terrestrial) Margi music is Nibadha and Desi
Music is Anibadha. Desiya Sangita is further classified into two.

(i) Hindustani Music

(ii) Karnatic Music

It is surmised that Hindustani system was founded by Hanuma and

Karnatic music goes back to much earlier times and is believed to be handed
down by Narada Muni. In North India itself concept of 6 fundamental ragas and
their 36 raginis is being followed by a group of musicologists. It is still more so
in further northern part of North India. Similarly in the South 32 major ragas are
identified and in them 8 are male ragas and 24 female ragas. In addition, there is
yet another classification with 32 ancient Ragas and 42 new ragas.

Though these systems are incomplete and deficient, it looks reasonable to

form a new system taking logically sound parts from these and rejecting others
and also adding new concepts. Such an approach was primarily introduced by
fixing suitable criteria for the new 72 melakartha system. In spite of many
 49

discripancies, there is no doubt, the contribution of Venkatamakhi regulates the

classification in a systematic stream.

The Indian music h ad established itself much before the advent of Aryans.
Later the Aryans mastered th e Indian music popularised through Sanskrit and
ot her languages and monopolised them. It was during the time of Ahobala th at

Indian music took two basically different forms. Hindustani music and Karnatic
music and his famous work Sangita Parijat ha stands testimony to it . As south
Indian history did not go through ravages of war and was relatively peaceful, it
had a gradual and progressive development.

Purandaradasa (15 th century) made the substantial contribution of the

scheme and lessons for learning of Karnatic music which is followed even today.
'Vysa Kataka' th e work prior to Purandaradasa's time mentions about Kanakangi,
Ratnangi, Ganamurthy. These are adopted by Venkita Makhi in his scheme of 72
Melakarthas. But as there exist classifications with names like Kanakambari,
Phenedyuthi etc, it is obvious that there must h ave existed another work. The 103
pam;is which had existed from ancient times can never be destroyed, only th at

they exist in different names. Many ragas of the Sarangadeva are used even now.
Though the nomenclature and individualities h ave changed, they h ave outlived the
temporal influence.

The present study encompasses a comparison of the ragas of great treatises

like S.R. and S.S. (18 th century) of Tulaja Maharaja which is considered to be th e

frame work of th e present day ragas. Among Marattas wh o ruled Tanjore and
wh o made valuable contribution in projecting the Cultural art forms, Tulaja is
most prominent (18 th century). Th is work which precedes the period of Sangzta
 50

thrimurthis however is important. 109 ragas are described with lakshanas in this
book

Brief survey of raga classification through centuries

The investigation on the raga evolution is an indispensable part in the study

of our musical heritage and culture. There have always been performers on all
occasions, religious or festive. A true form of classical music has got its start
from here.

From 1000 BC onwards Aryan Exodus continued until the Era of Mouryan
Dynasty. According to the circumstances our arts, language, culture etc were
subjected to a vast change. The Sanskrit terms were never used before the
Kudumiamalai insriptions at the time of the pallava king Mahendra Varman I. The
iniription contains references to S-grama, M- grama, shadava, Sadharitha,
panchama, kaisikam, kaisika madhyama etc. After this time onwards only the
southerners were aware of symbols s,r,g,m,p d,n. Before that, vowels like aa,ee,
ai, oo, ou were used for denoting notes.

The oldest and detailed exposition of the theory on music and dance 'Natya
Sasthra' of Sage Bharata gives a clear picture of musical notes and grama
murchana jathies of his time. Matanga who lived between fifth and seventh
century defines raga as the combination of sweet and impressive tones. This
period was very important in the history of Indian Music because during this
time, numerous regional tunes were adapted in to classical music and ragas
became classified as mela, sankeerna, desya and chayasrya. The main and
unchangeable stream of classical music remained as Margi while the changeable
branches were called desi.
 51

In ancient music, Jathi gayana was associated with the different sections of
drama act. The madhyama grama melodies are sung in the opening of drama
(Mukheya). Gandhara grama melodies were used during the progression of drama
(Prathi mukhya). Sadharita melodies and panchama jathis are used in the stage of
development and conversation (Vimarsa) respectively.

After categorisation of Grama ragas like Suddha, Bhinna, Gouda, vesara

and sadharani, the evolution of Bhasha ragas and anga ragas have taken place.
The subordinates of Bhashas were Vibhashas and Antarabhashas. After the time of
the great sages Bharata, Matanga and Dattila a veritable collection of works on
music have been produced. At the time of Saranga deva, Indian music could
achieve a full fledged shape and mould. But unfortunately after that peak time,
there happened a dark age in the history of our arts especially in Music. The
political turmoil, internal wars and the incursion of the invaders from the north
and west have made a shuffling in our social and cultural condition of common
people as well as in the realm of arts. The centuries 12, 13 and 14 were ruled by
Khilji dynasty. Under these circumstances, neither the king nor the people could
do much for the development of fine arts. During the reign of Sultan Althamash,
the Persian and Arabic music got admission to the royal court and the fusion of
the foreign music with the Indian melodies paved the way for the new system
called Hindustani Music. One who has done valuable contributions in the early
Hindustani music was Amir khusru.

Prior to Saranga deva, there was a system where only 6 basic ragas existed
and there were 5 or 6 raginis for them. These ragas and raginis have sons and
daughter in laws. Personification of ragas and raginis also have been used (Men
and woman of different appearance, states of mind and attitudes).
 52

The parent ragas conceived in the mela ragas or Thattas is a noticeable

difference through ages. During post Ratnakara period, most of the writers such
as S6manatha and Ramamatya replaced murchanas in to the melas and thattas.
Mela or thatta is a composite body of seven swaras. In the opinion of Matanga, a
raga is called a murchana, when it is manifested in ascending and descending
order of tone. Murchana has the capacity to create a raga and inspite of its
ascending and descending form 'Raga' possesses a pleasing capacity. A grama
means a cluster of tones from which ragas originate.

Mean while the classification of raganga, bhashanga, kriyanga and upanga

occurred and raga raginis of the medieval and modern time emerged.. Vidyaranya
of 14th century formulated the 19 melas in his sangitasara. Neither Sarangadeva
nor his commentators seem to have used the term mela. Govinda Dikshitar has
applied mela scheme borrowing 15 melas from Vidyaranya exibiting the
agreement with the scheme of the latter. According to S6manatha by the
combination of Suddha and Vikrita swaras 960 melas could be made. kallinatha
refers to suddha ragas as the ones which conform to the rules and disciplines of
vaidika sangita They are being sung traditionally. S uddha - Chayalaga and
sankirna classification of ragas existed in the medieval time. At this time the
bifurcation of the northern and southern musical systems came in to being.
Lochana Kavi's 12 thatta system was followed in Hindustani Music deleting two
rare scales. While vishnu Nararayana Bhatkande devised 10 thatta as the basic
melas in the north, venktamakhi arranged ragas under the 72 mela scheme in the
south., Ramamatya and Pundarika vittala etc. had given valuable contribution in
this development The invention of 72 mela scheme enriched Karnatic music by
generating numerous ragas which were appealing to all.
 53

The majority of music theorists would be of opinion that the music in the
time of Sarangadeva cannot be useful to us. To the students of music, finding
more facts and views on the vast legacy of our music is very relevant. While
working for this thesis I could observe that, eventhough a lot of works were
written on early. Indian music, most of the lakshanakaras were silent while
explaining the connection between the old grama murchana jathis and the later
raga classifications. It would not be correct to claim the modern ragas as the
continuous form of the ancient ones because, the similarity will be only in the
name.