Amidst lively debates within and beyond India these perspectives on our shared legacy make interesting reading:
VainikaSavithri Rajan who believed that Tyagaraja, like other great men, was always meditating, but his medium of expression was nādam, “sound”.
In the introduction to his unfinished yet voluminous magnum opus Karunamirtha Sagaram, titled “The Dignity and Origin of music”, Abraham Pandither entices readers to embark on a virtual journey through time and space; a discovery of nature that for him would have gone hand in hand with musical evolution if not advanced civilization itself.
A summary of findings by archaeologists titled “How prehistoric societies were transformed by the sound of music”.
Give it a try and DIY (“do it yourself”) – become part of a larger “musical home”; one that welcomes and accommodates scales and tunes from all over India and beyond!
For music lovers aged 20+ (or even below), grasping and applying the principles underlying South India’s 72 melakarta scale system is more than an intellectual challenge: it is worth the effort in terms of greater appreciation of musical accomplishment irrespective of our own cultural roots, customs and listening habits.
Going by the longevity of many pioneering musicians in this field (just as the unwavering interest among the younger generation), there may be a wonderful side effect: kindling imagination no matter what our personal “station in life” may be.
So this is all about intercultural – even intergenerational – understanding rather than oversimplification: a shared quest that has sustained this course, still going strong with participants and contributors from all over the world for a quarter of a century.
Why 20+?
Recent findings on arithmetical and comprehension skills in “The science of ageing” (The Economist EU, 13 January 2024)
Arithmetical and comprehension skills, as well as vocabulary, improve until 50, though they start to decline thereafter. However, for tasks involving short term memory (remembering things immediately after presentation) and working memory (remembering them half an hour later), it is downhill from the age of 20 or so.
Not so for these pioneers in this field, both embodying the joy of music and determined to spread knowledge throughout their long lives:
A good moment to reflect on one’s own age, practice our Arithmetical and comprehension skills: to start with, by finding out whether our birthday leads to a number within the scope of the 72 melakarta scheme; then start practicing the corresponding one.
For those aged 72+ and for combining the commemoration of a birth anniversary, simply add the digits because in Carnatic music, not even the sky is “the limit!” (e.g. for 87, it’s 8+7 = mela 15 to explore, and to celebrate the 106th birth anniversary of revered teacher or dear rasika, consider listening a fine rendition of 7th melakarta raga “Senavati“)
Why “beyond”?
Already in the 17th century Venkatamakhi – a visionary musicologist in Tanjavur – provided the system contributing to a more global vision in South Indian music, a dream that is in the process of coming true in our own times (partly thanks to the internet); realizing “that countries are many with people having variety of tastes and it is to please them ragas have been invented by musicians. Some are already known while some are in the process of being brought to life, while some may be invented in future, while those surviving only in treatises and the ragas not known at all during their time may be brought to life in future, for the benefit of the people.” (Tanjore as a Seat of Music During the 17th, 18th and the 19th Centuries, p. 433-4)
How to find ragas derived from a particular mela on YouTube?
Include a favourite musician or instrument for other results to suit your interest, for instance a legendary artist’s rendition or an instrumental one associated with a particular style (bānī):
How to apply this lesson (with or without personal teacher)
One of the short “Flow”-exercises offered in this course may suit your personal situation: to rekindle your joy and creativity anywhere, any time (silently or otherwise); ready to modify for group activities (even where time may be as short in supply as musical instruments and digital equipment).
How to find ragas derived from a particular mela on YouTube?
Venkatamakhi while justifying the derivation of 72 melakartas by permutation and combination interestingly remarks that countries are many with people having variety of tastes and it is to please them ragas have been invented by musicians. Some are already known while some are in the process of being brought to life, while some may be invented in future, while those surviving only in treatises and the ragas not known at all during their time may be brought to life in future, for the benefit of the people.
Therefore his mela arrangement “is intended to visualise all the desi (regional) ragas which differ from place to place, from people to people and which according to the suitability of the voices, must be utilised for practical purposes.”
As a result, “the melakarta assumes a real scientific meaning during Govindacarya’s time […] and help in the preservation of the identify of many a janya [derived raga]. […] The ragas assume different colours and shades of expression in their attempt to satisfy the musical needs and tastes of the people. But the 72 melakartas are perhaps ever the same in structure and remain as the material forever out of which the thing of beauty – the raga – is made. […] Whether the janya is the one derived from the melakarta or vice versa, the existing janaka-janya system of raga classification enhances the paramount importance of the 72 melas as technical facts defining the janyas under them”.
Govindacarya and the present Kanakāngi-Ratnāngi nomenclature
Since Venkatamakhi proposed his original mela arrangement, “varali ma” became known as “prati ma” since the late 18th c. when a scholar known as Govindacarya wrote his treatise, the Sangrahacūdamani.
Govindacarya also had good reasons for giving the 72 melas individual names within the famous list, the Kanakāngi-Ratnāngi nomenclature: it helps musicians and listeners “ascertaining the mela and the kinds of notes taken both in the purvānga [Sa-Ri-Ga-Ma] and uttarānga [Pa-Dha-Ni-’Sa]”.
As a result, “the melakarta assumes a real scientific meaning during Govindacarya’s time […] and help in the preservation of the identify of many a janya [derived raga]. […]
The ragas assume different colours and shades of expression in their attempt to satisfy the musical needs and tastes of the people. But the 72 melakartas are perhaps ever the same in structure and remain as the material forever out of which the thing of beauty – the raga – is made. […]
Whether the janya is the one derived from the melakarta or vice versa, the existing janaka-janya system of raga classification enhances the paramount importance of the 72 melas as technical facts defining the janyas under them”.
We must understand India today in the light of its rich, long argumentative tradition [while] appreciating not only the richness of India’s diversity but its need for toleration. – Nobel Awardee Amartya Sen >>
Freedom of religion or belief, freedom of opinion and expression, the right to peaceful assembly and the right to freedom of association are interdependent, interrelated and mutually reinforcing. They are enshrined in articles 18, 19 and 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Upholding these rights plays an important role in the fight against all forms of intolerance and of discrimination based on religion or belief.
The open, constructive and respectful debate of ideas, as well as interreligious, interfaith and intercultural dialogue, at the local, national, regional and international levels, can play a positive role in combating religious hatred, incitement and violence.
Furthermore, the exercise of the right to freedom of opinion and expression and full respect for the freedom to seek, receive and impart information can play a positive role in strengthening democracy and combating religious intolerance.
Even the brilliant Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, who was himself deeply religious, clarified that bhakti is essential for a Carnatic music, but this bhakti is for music, not for any personal deity.
Lakshmi Sreeram in “Carnatic Music Ruminating the Landscape”, Indian Horizons published by The Indian Council for Cultural Relations
By choosing an octave based on G# or A for basic “Sa”, all types of voice will be able to join in comfortably.
This is demonstrated by a noted singer and vocal guru, Dr. Nookala Chinnasatyanarana: for this audio lesson1 he chose G# as basic “sa” to enable male and female voices to practice together; and this without unnecessary strain even when repeating a given exercise many times:
Matching sruti for practice (2 min. recorded from Eswar digital tanpura)
Repetition with scope for expressive variation is, of course, the very idea behind getting into the flow: “Pursuing flow through learning is more humane, natural, and very likely more effective way to marshal emotions in the service of education. […] Whether it be in controlling impulse and putting off gratification, regulating our moods, so they facilitate rather than impede thinking, motivating ourselves to persist and try, try again in the face of setbacks, or finding ways to enter flow, and so perform more effectively–all bespeak the power of emotion to guide effective effort”.2
A simple way of testing such insights is to practice raga Sankarabharanam (with G# as basic “sa” as heard above):
Read like a text: left-to-right, top-to-bottom Note: this pattern may be applied to any melakarta raga (Hindustani that) | Learn more >>
A series of similar audio and video lessons is freely accessible on YouTube. [↩]
Daniel Goleman in Emotional Intelligence (New York: Bantam Books, 1995), pp. 106-8 [↩]
