A systematic framework of 72 parent ragas — one of the most elegant classification systems in world music, organizing every possible 7-note scale.
The Melakartha system classifies all possible 7-note Carnatic scales into exactly 72 parent ragas. Every other raga (janya raga) is derived from one of these 72 parents by omitting or reordering swaras.
Every Melakartha raga has exactly 7 swaras. Two are fixed:
The remaining 5 swaras each have variants:
Ri
3 variants
Ga
3 variants
Ma
2 variants
Da
3 variants
Ni
3 variants
Constraint: Ri must be lower than or equal to Ga, and Da must be lower than or equal to Ni. With this constraint and 2 Ma options: 6 × 6 × 2 = 72 ragas.
The 72 ragas are organized into 12 groups of 6 called chakras. Within each chakra, the Ri-Ga-Ma combination stays the same, and only Da-Ni vary through all 6 possible combinations.
Indu
Moon
Netra
Eyes
Agni
Fire
Veda
Vedas
Bana
Arrow
Rutu
Season
Rishi
Sage
Vasu
Wealth
Brahma
Creator
Disi
Direction
Rudra
Shiva
Aditya
Sun