Carnatic music: raga, tala and compositions

In short

Carnatic music is the classical art music of peninsular India, built on two frameworks: raga (a melodic grammar of chosen swaras, their movement and ornaments) and tala (a cyclic metrical grammar of beats grouped into angas). Its theory was codified in Venkatamakhin's *Chaturdandi Prakasika* (c. 1620) as the 72 melakarta scheme and the sapta tala - 35 tala system, and its repertoire is dominated by the kriti form perfected by the Trinity - Tyagaraja, Muthuswami Dikshitar and Syama Sastri. Raga and tala lakshana (characteristics), the katapayadi sankhya, composition forms and manodharma sangita (improvisation) are the core of theory papers in every BA/BPA Music and MA Music syllabus, of UGC-NET Music, and of auditions for Akashvani (AIR) and Doordarshan grading. In practice it is what a performer, accompanist, music teacher (TGT/PGT Music in CBSE, KVS, Navodaya), notation editor, film or devotional-music arranger and dance musician work with every day.

Explained

Swara, shruti and the 16 swarasthanas

• Shruti is the reference pitch (adhara shadja) set on a tambura or electronic shruti box; the Carnatic octave is traditionally described as having 22 srutis, from which 12 pitch positions and 16 named swarasthanas are used.
• Sa (shadja) and Pa (panchama) are prakriti (fixed) swaras; Ri, Ga, Ma, Da, Ni are vikriti (variable) - Ri, Ga, Da, Ni have three varieties each and Ma two: 2 (Sa, Pa) + 2 (Ma) + 4 × 3 = 16 names for 12 positions.
• Ri/Ga: R1 shuddha rishabha, R2 chatushruti rishabha, R3 shatshruti rishabha; G1 shuddha gandhara, G2 sadharana gandhara, G3 antara gandhara. R2 and G1 share a pitch; R3 and G2 share a pitch - the same note takes a different name according to its function in the scale. Da/Ni mirror this (D2 = N1, D3 = N2).
• Ma: M1 shuddha madhyama, M2 prati madhyama.
• Pitch convention: performers name shruti in *kattai* (1 kattai = C, 2 = D, 3 = E, 4 = F, 5 = G, with half-kattai steps); men commonly sing around 1-2.5 kattai, women around 4.5-5.5 kattai.
• Three sthayis (registers) are used in practice - mandra, madhya, tara - notated with a dot below, nothing, and a dot above.

The 72 melakarta scheme and the katapayadi sutra

• A melakarta (mela) is a parent scale: sampurna (all seven swaras), krama (in strict ascending-descending order), with the same swaras in arohana and avarohana.
• Construction: 2 varieties of Ma × 6 permitted Ri-Ga pairs × 6 permitted Da-Ni pairs = 72. Melas 1-36 take M1, melas 37-72 take M2 and are otherwise identical in Ri-Ga-Da-Ni.
• The 6 permitted Ri-Ga pairs in order are R1G1, R1G2, R1G3, R2G2, R2G3, R3G3 (Ga must not fall below Ri); Da-Ni follows the same pattern.
• The 72 are grouped into 12 chakras of 6: Indu, Netra, Agni, Veda, Bana, Rutu (M1) and Rishi, Vasu, Brahma, Disi, Rudra, Aditya (M2). Within a chakra the Ri-Ga pair is constant and the Da-Ni pair runs 1 to 6.
• Katapayadi sankhya encodes the number in the name: ka(1) kha(2) ga(3) gha(4) nga(5) cha(6) chha(7) ja(8) jha(9) nya(0); ta(1) tha(2) da(3) dha(4) na(5) ... actually the second series is ta(1) tha(2) da(3) dha(4) na(0) in the *ta-di-na* group counted 1-9 then 0; pa(1) pha(2) ba(3) bha(4) ma(5); ya(1) ra(2) la(3) va(4) sa(5) sha(6) sa(7) ha(8). Take the first two consonants of the mela name, write their digits and reverse them.
• In a conjunct consonant only the last consonant is counted (Ratnangi: ra = 2, tna → na = 0, reversed 02).
• The scheme is a mathematically complete set, so some melas (for example Kanakangi, Ratnangi, Salaga) exist to fill the grid and are rarely performed, while a few janya ragas (Mohanam, Bilahari) are far commoner than their parents.

Janya ragas, raga lakshana and gamaka

• Janya (derived) ragas are formed from a mela by omitting, zig-zagging or borrowing notes:
  • Varja: notes dropped - shadava (6 notes), audava (5 notes); a raga may be audava-sampurna, audava-audava (Mohanam, Hamsadhwani) and so on.
  • Vakra: the order is crooked, not straight (Sriranjani, Anandabhairavi's phrases, Ritigaula).
  • Upanga: uses only its parent's notes. Bhashanga: borrows an *anya swara* from outside the parent (Bilahari takes N2 in descent; Anandabhairavi takes D2).
  • Nishadantya / dhaivatantya / panchamantya: ragas whose range stops at Ni, Da or Pa of the upper octave (Kurinji, Navroj, Chandrajyoti).
• Raga lakshana - what must be stated when a raga is described: parent mela, arohana and avarohana, jati (sampurna/shadava/audava), graha and nyasa swaras, jiva/amsa (life-giving) swaras, nyasa (resting note), vadi-samvadi usage, gamakas used, rakti phrases (prayogas), and famous compositions. Older texts list the dasavidha raga lakshana (graha, amsa, nyasa, apanyasa, vinyasa, sanyasa, bahutva, alpatva, antaramarga, shadava-audava).
• Ghana / naya / desya: Nata, Gaula, Arabhi, Varali and Sri are the five ghana ragas (suited to tanam; Tyagaraja's Pancharatna kritis are in them); naya ragas are melody-rich and expansive; desya ragas are of northern or folk origin (Behag, Hamirkalyani, Sindhubhairavi, Kapi).
• Gamaka - ornamentation - is what makes a scale into a raga; Sangita Ratnakara lists 15 gamakas (kampita, sphurita, ahata, pratyahata, andolita, murchana, namita, dhalu, tripuchcha, misrita, kudrita, humphita, plavita, arohana, avarohana); modern practice teaches ten *dasavidha gamakas* and the practical set kampita, nokku, sphurita, odukkal, orikkai, jaru.
• Two ragas may share a scale and differ entirely in gamaka and prayoga (Sankarabharanam and Bilahari's family; Darbar and Nayaki) - scale identity is not raga identity.

Tala: angas, sapta talas, 35 and 175

• Angas (limbs) and their akshara values: laghu (|) = the jati count, drutam (O) = 2, anudrutam (U) = 1. Older angas (guru = 8, pluta = 12, kakapada = 16) survive only in theory.
• Kriyas mark time: *sasabda* (audible - clap, finger counts) and *nishabda* (silent - wave/visarjita). A laghu is a clap plus finger counts; a drutam is a clap plus a wave; an anudrutam is a single clap.
• Five jatis fix the laghu: tisra 3, chatusra 4, khanda 5, misra 7, sankirna 9.
• Sapta talas and their anga order:

• 7 talas × 5 jatis = 35 talas; each may be set in 5 gatis/nadais (tisra, chatusra, khanda, misra, sankirna) giving 175. The ancient repertoire of 108 talas is a separate, largely theoretical list.
• Chapu talas are counted without angas: Misra chapu 7 (3+4), Khanda chapu 5 (2+3), also tisra and sankirna chapu. Much of Syama Sastri and the padam repertoire is in misra chapu.
• Kalapramana is tempo: chauka (1st), madhyama (2nd), durita (3rd) kala, each roughly doubling the number of syllables per akshara, not the beat speed.
• Eduppu is the starting point: *sama* (on the beat), *anagata/atita* (after/before the beat, measured in fractions of an akshara). Arudi is the emphatic resting point in a pallavi; korvai/tirmanam/mora are calculated rhythmic cadences; kanakku is the arithmetic behind them.

Forms of composition

• Abhyasa gana (training): sarali, janta, dattu and melsthayi varisai; alankaram (the seven talas); geetam (simple, no pallavi-anupallavi division; *lakshana geetam* states a raga's features in its text); swarajati (sahitya and swara sections; Syama Sastri's three in Bhairavi, Yadukulakambhoji and Todi are concert pieces); jatiswaram (swara and jati syllables, no sahitya, used in Bharatanatyam).
• Varnam: the complete raga study - purvanga (pallavi, anupallavi, muktayi swara) and uttaranga (charanam with ettugada swaras). Tana varnam for concerts, pada varnam (slower, with full sahitya) for dance.
• Kriti / kirtana: the main concert form. Sections - pallavi, anupallavi, charanam; devices - sangati (graded melodic variations of a line), chittaswara, swara sahitya, madhyamakala sahitya, solkattu swara, and the composer's mudra (signature). A *kirtana* is simpler and text-led; a *kriti* is music-led and elaborate.
• Padam (slow, sringara-based, Kshetrayya, Telugu/Tamil) and javali (light, fast, colloquial, erotic) - both dance-linked. Tillana - rhythmic jatis with a short sahitya, usually the concert or dance finale.
• Devotional and group forms: divyanama kriti, utsava sampradaya kriti, tiruppugazh, tevaram, tiruppavai, bhajan, tarangam (Narayana Teertha), ashtapadi.
• Manodharma (improvised) forms: alapana (free, unmetred raga exposition), tanam (rhythmic-pulsed elaboration on "ananta"), niraval/neraval (improvising on one sahitya line within the tala), kalpanaswara (extempore swara passages ending on the arudi/eduppu), and Ragam-Tanam-Pallavi (RTP) - the composite test of a musician, with anuloma, pratiloma, trikalam, tisra-nadai and ragamalika koraippu. Tani avartanam is the percussion solo.
• Composers: Purandaradasa (father of the pedagogic tradition), Annamacharya, Bhadrachala Ramadas, Kshetrayya, Narayana Teertha; the Trinity - Tyagaraja (Telugu, mudra *Tyagaraja*, Pancharatna kritis, Ghana raga and Utsava sampradaya kritis, the operas Nauka Charitam and Prahlada Bhakta Vijayam), Muthuswami Dikshitar (Sanskrit, mudra *Guruguha*, Kamalamba Navavarana, Navagraha kritis, vilamba kala with madhyamakala sahitya), Syama Sastri (Telugu, mudra *Syama Krishna*, Navaratnamalika on Madurai Meenakshi, swarajatis); then Swathi Thirunal, the Tanjore Quartet (varnams and the Bharatanatyam margam), Gopalakrishna Bharati, Patnam Subramania Iyer, Mysore Vasudevachar, Muthiah Bhagavatar, Papanasam Sivan, Subbarama Dikshitar (*Sangita Sampradaya Pradarsini*, 1904).
• Notation: the Carnatic system writes swara letters with tala markers - the vertical bar and the comma for a one-akshara extension, the semicolon for two, the hyphen/underline for grouped subdivisions; a dot above or below sets the sthayi.

Concert practice, instruments and the institutional frame

• A kacheri order runs varnam → kritis of rising weight → the main raga with alapana, niraval, kalpanaswara and tani avartanam → RTP if included → tukkada (tillana, javali, bhajan, tiruppugazh) → mangalam.
• Pathantara is the version handed down in a *bani* (school) - Dhanammal, Semmangudi, Umayalpuram and others; textual and melodic differences between banis are examinable.
• Instruments: vocal is primary; melodic - violin (chief accompaniment), veena, flute, nagaswaram, chitravina/gottuvadyam, mandolin, saxophone; percussion - mridangam (chief), ghatam, kanjira, morsing, tavil, konnakol (vocal percussion); drone - tambura and shruti box.
• Examination and institutional landscape in India: UGC CBCS/NEP-aligned BA, BPA and MA Music programmes (Madras, Annamalai, Potti Sreeramulu Telugu, Sri Venkateswara, Kerala, Bangalore, Mysore, SVU, SSUS Kalady) with separate theory and practical papers; Government Music Colleges (Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram, Hyderabad); Kalakshetra Foundation; Tamil Nadu and Kerala state music examinations; CBSE Carnatic Music (Vocal / Melodic Instrument / Percussion) at Class 10 and 12; UGC-NET Music for lectureship; Akashvani/Doordarshan audition grading (B, B-High, A and Top grade) which fixes artist fees; Sangeet Natak Akademi and Ministry of Culture / CCRT scholarship and fellowship schemes. Grade structures and fee bands are revised periodically, so verify the current circular before quoting one.
• Rights and contracts matter professionally: a raga or a tala is not copyrightable, but a composition's notation, arrangement and a sound recording are protected under the Copyright Act, 1957 (as amended in 2012), with performers' rights for the artist; royalty collection runs through societies such as IPRS (for musical and literary works) and PPL/ISRA (for recordings and performers). Service fees invoiced by a performer or teacher fall under GST (slabs of 5%/18%/40% since 22 September 2025), subject to the exemption for a performing artist in Indian classical or folk art whose consideration per performance is within the prescribed limit - check the current notification for the threshold.

Key points

• Raga - a melodic framework defined by chosen swaras, arohana-avarohana, gamakas and characteristic phrases, not merely a scale.
• Melakarta - sampurna, krama parent scale; exactly 72, from 2 Ma × 6 Ri-Ga × 6 Da-Ni.
• Katapayadi sankhya - the first two consonants of a mela name, digitised and reversed, give its number.
• Swarasthanas - 16 names for 12 pitch positions; R2 = G1, R3 = G2, D2 = N1, D3 = N2 by pitch.
• Janya raga - derived by varja (omission), vakra (crooked order) or anya swara (bhashanga).
• Gamaka - ornament; the distinguishing element between two ragas of the same scale.
• Ghana ragas - Nata, Gaula, Arabhi, Varali, Sri; the Pancharatna kritis.
• Angas - laghu = jati (3/4/5/7/9), drutam = 2, anudrutam = 1.
• Sapta talas - Dhruva, Matya, Rupaka, Jhampa, Triputa, Ata, Eka; × 5 jatis = 35; × 5 gatis = 175.
• Adi tala - chatusra jati Triputa, 8 aksharas (4 + 2 + 2), the commonest tala.
• Chapu talas - misra chapu 7, khanda chapu 5, counted without angas.
• Eduppu / arudi - the starting offset of a line and the cadential resting point of a pallavi.
• Kriti - pallavi, anupallavi, charanam, with sangati, chittaswara and the composer's mudra.
• Varnam - the full raga exercise: muktayi swara in the purvanga, ettugada swaras in the uttaranga.
• Manodharma - alapana, tanam, niraval, kalpanaswara, RTP: unwritten, created on stage.
• Trinity mudras - Tyagaraja, Guruguha (Dikshitar), Syama Krishna (Syama Sastri).
• Chaturdandi Prakasika (Venkatamakhin, c. 1620) gave the 72-mela scheme; *Sangraha Chudamani* fixed the current mela names and janya lakshanas.

Formulas and examples

Example 1 - name to number to scale (Dheerasankarabharanam).

• First two consonants: *dha* = 9, *ra* = 2 → digits 9, 2 → reversed = 29.
• n = 29 ≤ 36 → M1; m = 29. Ri-Ga index = ⌈29/6⌉ = 5 → R2 G3. Da-Ni index = ((29 − 1) mod 6) + 1 = 28 mod 6 = 4, +1 = 5 → D2 N3.
• Scale: S R2 G3 M1 P D2 N3 S (the major scale). Chakra = ⌈29/6⌉ = 5 → Bana chakra, position 5. Its M2 counterpart is 29 + 36 = 65, Mechakalyani (check: *ma* = 5, *cha* = 6 → reversed 65 ✓).

Example 2 - number to scale (mela 8 and mela 22).

• n = 8: Ri-Ga index ⌈8/6⌉ = 2 → R1 G2; Da-Ni index (7 mod 6) + 1 = 1 + 1 = 2 → D1 N2; M1 → S R1 G2 M1 P D1 N2 S = Hanumatodi (*ha* = 8, *na* = 0 → 08 ✓).
• n = 22: ⌈22/6⌉ = 4 → R2 G2; (21 mod 6) + 1 = 3 + 1 = 4 → D2 N2 → S R2 G2 M1 P D2 N2 S = Kharaharapriya (*kha* = 2, *ra* = 2 → 22 ✓).

Example 3 - tala arithmetic.

• Duration: khanda jati Ata tala (14 aksharas) at a kalapramana of 84 aksharas per minute → t = 14 × 60 / 84 = 10.0 s per avartana.
• Subdivisions: Adi tala in tisra gati = 8 × 3 = 24 matras; in chatusra gati = 8 × 4 = 32 matras; in misra gati = 8 × 7 = 56 matras.

Example 4 - fitting a korvai into one avartana.

• Adi tala, chatusra gati → 32 matras available.
• Design three repetitions of an 8-matra phrase with a 2-matra gap: 3 × (8 + 2) = 30 matras; add a 2-matra tirmanam to land exactly on the next sama eduppu → 30 + 2 = 32 matras = one full avartana, resolving on beat 1.
• If the pallavi's eduppu were anagata by half an akshara (2 matras in chatusra gati), the korvai must be lengthened to 34 matras so that the resolution still falls on the pallavi's starting point (an atita eduppu, before the beat, would instead need it shortened).

Example 5 - shruti and intervals.

• Shruti set at 5 kattai ≈ G4 ≈ 392 Hz (equal temperament, A4 = 440 Hz).
• Panchama P = 392 × 3/2 = 588 Hz; antara gandhara G3 = 392 × 5/4 = 490 Hz.
• The same G3 in equal temperament = 392 × 2^4/12 = 392 × 1.2599 = 493.9 Hz.
• Difference in cents = 1200 × log₂(5/4) = 386.3 cents against ET's 400 cents → the just major third is about 13.7 cents flatter, which is why a keyboard sounds "off" against a tambura.

Combinatorial exercise (commonly set): from one melakarta, if Sa and Pa are always retained and a scale must have at least five notes, each of arohana and avarohana can drop 0, 1 or 2 of {R, G, M, D, N}: C(5,0) + C(5,1) + C(5,2) = 1 + 5 + 10 = 16 patterns each, so 16 × 16 = 256 straight-order combinations, of which one is the mela itself → 255 derived scales per mela. Vakra and bhashanga ragas multiply this further; only a small fraction are in living practice.

Where it is used

• Concert and accompaniment careers: vocalists and violin, veena, flute, mridangam, ghatam and kanjira artists for sabhas such as the Madras Music Academy and the Chennai December season, temple and festival circuits (Tiruvaiyaru Tyagaraja Aradhana, Navaratri at Thiruvananthapuram).
• Broadcast and recording: Akashvani and Doordarshan graded artists and staff artists, devotional-music labels, OTT and streaming catalogues, notation and liner-note editing.
• Teaching: TGT/PGT Music in CBSE, KVS and Navodaya schools; music college and university faculty (UGC-NET/PhD route); private and online gurukula teaching; Kalakshetra and state music college instruction.
• Dance music: Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi margam repertoire - alarippu, jatiswaram, pada varnam, padam, javali, tillana - sung by the nattuvanar and vocalist; nattuvangam and tala calculation are a distinct employable skill.
• Film, fusion and advertising: raga-based composition and arrangement in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada cinema; studio session work; the Carnatic scale vocabulary used in jingles and game audio.
• Research, archives and technology: musicology and ethnomusicology posts, Sangeet Natak Akademi and IGNCA documentation, digital archives, and music information retrieval work on raga and tala recognition by Indian institutes and startups.

Interview questions

• Q: What makes a scale a raga? A: A raga adds to the scale a fixed arohana-avarohana, jiva and nyasa swaras, characteristic prayogas and prescribed gamakas; Sankarabharanam and Bilahari share notes but differ completely in movement and ornament.
• Q: Why exactly 72 melakartas? A: Two madhyamas multiply six admissible Ri-Ga pairs and six admissible Da-Ni pairs - the admissibility rule being that Ga must not be lower than Ri and Ni not lower than Da.
• Q: Decode mela 65 from its name. A: Mechakalyani - *ma* = 5, *cha* = 6, reversed = 65; being above 36 it takes prati madhyama, and 65 − 36 = 29 gives R2 G3 D2 N3, so S R2 G3 M2 P D2 N3 S.
• Q: Difference between upanga and bhashanga ragas? A: An upanga raga uses only its parent mela's swaras; a bhashanga raga borrows an anya swara from outside it, as Bilahari uses N2 in descent.
• Q: What is Adi tala in the 35-tala scheme? A: Chatusra jati Triputa tala - laghu of 4, drutam, drutam, totalling 8 aksharas.
• Q: How many talas are there, and how does the number grow? A: 7 sapta talas × 5 jatis = 35; each in 5 gatis gives 175; the older theoretical list of 108 talas is separate.
• Q: Distinguish niraval from kalpanaswara. A: Niraval improvises melody on a chosen sahitya line within the tala cycle; kalpanaswara improvises in swara syllables, both resolving on the line's eduppu or arudi.
• Q: What are the parts of a tana varnam? A: Pallavi, anupallavi and muktayi swara form the purvanga; the charanam with its ettugada (chittai) swaras forms the uttaranga.
• Q: Name the Trinity's mudras and languages. A: Tyagaraja - *Tyagaraja*, mainly Telugu; Muthuswami Dikshitar - *Guruguha*, Sanskrit; Syama Sastri - *Syama Krishna*, Telugu.
• Q: What is eduppu and why does it matter to an accompanist? A: It is the point in the cycle where the line begins - sama, anagata or atita; every korvai, niraval and swara passage must resolve precisely there, so the mridangist calculates cadences backwards from it.
• Q: Which are the ghana ragas and where are they used? A: Nata, Gaula, Arabhi, Varali and Sri - suited to tanam and used for Tyagaraja's five Pancharatna kritis.
• Q: Why does misra chapu feel like 7 but is clapped differently from misra jati talas? A: Chapu talas are counted as uneven groups without angas - 3 + 4 for misra chapu - rather than by laghu, drutam and finger counts.
• Q: Can a raga be copyrighted? A: No - a raga and a tala are traditional frameworks in the public domain; what is protected under the Copyright Act, 1957 is a particular composition, its notation or arrangement, and a sound recording, with separate performers' rights.

Common mistakes

• Treating the melakarta as the raga: writing only arohana-avarohana and omitting gamaka, jiva swaras and prayogas in a raga lakshana answer.
• Katapayadi errors - using the first two *letters* instead of the first two *consonants*, forgetting to reverse the digits, or counting the first consonant of a conjunct instead of the last.
• Mixing up the Ri-Ga and Da-Ni indices: the Ri-Ga pair is given by ⌈m/6⌉ (constant within a chakra) and the Da-Ni pair by the position within the chakra.
• Calling R2 and G1 "the same swara": they are the same pitch position with different names, and no scale uses both.
• Confusing jati with gati - jati fixes the laghu's length, gati fixes how many matras fill each akshara; so changing nadai does not change the tala's akshara count.
• Saying that increasing the kala (speed) shortens the avartana: the cycle length stays the same; only the syllable density per akshara changes.
• Attributing works across composers - the swarajatis to Tyagaraja, the Navavarana kritis to Syama Sastri - and misstating mudras; also confusing *kirtana* with *kriti*.
• Giving tala counts without stating the jati (saying "Triputa tala = 8" when only chatusra jati Triputa is 8; tisra Triputa is 7, misra Triputa 11).

Related topics

Hindustani music: raga, tala and forms · Indian music history and musicology · Western music theory and graded exams · Bharatanatyam repertoire and nattuvangam · Acoustics of Indian musical instruments · Music pedagogy and voice culture