Mela DIY

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:

More about these two musical pioneers: Vidya Shankar & S. Rajam >>

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?

Further refinement

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?

Further refinement

Include a favourite musician or instrument for other results to suit your interest, for instance:

Are there any conditions attached?

No, participation is entirely free (which also means “ad-free”) without need for registration.

Tips, interactive music samples and more >>

Visualising ragas from many places and even future ones “for the benefit of the people”

In Tanjore as a Seat of Music (pp. 420-426), S. Seetha explains the scope envisaged by Venkatamakhi when presenting his mela arrangement >>

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.”

Table © Ludwig Pesch for
The Oxford Illustrated Companion to South Indian Classical Music >>

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]”. 

Learn more and download a free mela-pocket guide here: Boggle Your Mind with Mela (BYMM) method – free mini course >>

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”.

More about the above person(s) and topics

Periodicals and sites included | More resources | Disclaimer >>

For details, also refer to the Oxford Illustrated Companion to South Indian Classical Music

  • Glossary-cum-index
  • In the following section(s)

Audio | Live concert by Bhushany Kalyanaraman

Bhushany Kalyanaraman

Complete live recording of a classical South Indian (Carnatic) vocal recital with announcements for each item

Items

1. Mangalavara Ganapate (Varnam) 05:14
Raga: Hamsadhvani; Tala: Adi; Composer: Tanjavoor S. Kalyanaraman

2. Sogasuga Mridanga Talamu (Kriti) 11:29
Raga: Sriranjani; Tala: Rupakam; Composer: Tyagaraja

3.Taye Tripura Sundari (Kriti) 07:05
Raga: Suddhasaveri; Tala: Khanda Chapu; Composer: Periyaswami Tooran

4. Minakshi Memudam (Kriti) 25:31
Raga: Purvikalyani (= Gamagakriya); Tala: Adi; Composer: Muttusvami Dikshitar

5. Shobhillu Saptasvara (Kriti) 05:17
Raga: Jaganmohini; Tala: Rupakam; Composer: Tyagaraja

6. Ninne Nammiti (Kriti) 35:26
Raga: Simhendramadhyamam; Tala: Misra Chapu; Composer: Mysore Vasudevachar

7. Raga Tanam Pallavi 24:40
Raga: Sankarabharanam and Ragamalika; Tala: KhandaTriputa

8. Bhavayami Gopalabala Sevitam (Padam) 04:55
Raga: Yamunakalyani; Tala: Khanda Chapu Composer: Annamacharya; 

9.Tillana 05:33
Raga: Brindavani; Tala: Adi; Composer: Tanjavoor S. Kalyanaraman

10. Ni Nama Rupamulaku (Mangalam) 00:59
Raga: Saurashtram; Tala: Adi; Composer: Tyagaraja
(followed by Madhyamavati raga)

Place and date: Hitzacker (Germany), 27 May 2002 

Listen to the full concert

Tips
  • Please be patient and wait for the audio files to load in the above player
  • Click the above Play button for continuous listening
  • Click on any hyperlinks or the Forward/Backward buttons for repeated listening to any particular concert item
  • Download and other options are seen on Archive.org >>
Performers

Bhushany Kalyanaraman – Vocal
Pakala Ramadas – Violin
T. R. Sundaresan – Mridangam, Kanjira, Morsing and Konnakkol
Katharina Bunzel – Tambura

About the main performer

SINGLE-MINDED devotion to Carnatic music — that sums up Bhushany Kalyanaraman. Hers is an extraordinary tale, spanning oceans. Born and brought up in Colombo, Sri Lanka, it was a typical Tamil household where her father used to ensure that everyone was awake at 5 a.m., reciting the Tiruvempavai. A renowned musician, her father had won the title “Sangita Bhushanam” from Annamalai University. All her sisters too sang well.

Love of Carnatic music brought Bhushany to Chennai, at 16,to stay and study music at the Government Music College. She went back to Sri Lanka, to teach music at a Jaffna college. The riots in 1982 brought her back to India, drawn by her deep admiration for her subsequent guru and husband, Tanjore S.Kalyanaraman, senior disciple of the legendary G.N.B. […]  

A senior vocalist today, Bhushany has number of students both here and abroad, and many foreign students of Indian origin, who come to live with and learn from her. Many of her foreign-based students have had their formal arangetrams, proving her success as a teacher. […]  

Grateful for everything that music has bestowed on her, she also wishes to do something for destitute women and children “to be able to reach out to people who do not have the luxury of music, people weighed down by pressing basic needs, to survive.” […]  

Bhushany is a fortunate person — she has the best of both Sri Lanka and India, the best gained by besting life’s many odds

Source: Rupa Gopal in The Hindu (print edition), 7 March 2004 profiling “women who have made a career out of their passion”

Credits

Johann Wellendorf and Media Department, University Lueneburg (Germany); recording for the benefit of participants in its distance education course The Music of South India www.carnaticstudent.org

Information about the persons, items or topics

Learn & practice more

Flow | Moods, feelings and colours

Colours, moods and feelings have been favourite subjects in the context of raga, literally “colour, beauty, pleasure, passion and compassion”.1

We are aware that the ultimate aim of every composer and musician is to achieve the coalescence, the essential factors of classical music namely bhava, raga and tala. | Learn more >>

Explore this wonderful realm in imaginative ways – always in accordance with your own creativity and feelings

Suggestions for widening the scope for the “Flow”-exercises offered in this course:

  • Alternate the singing of svara syllables with humming (-m):
    – lines wherein 3-2-3 svaras are highlighted become “3 svaras sung + 2 svaras hummed + 3 svaras sung”
    – lines wherein 8 svaras are highlighted become “4 svaras sung + 4 svaras hummed”
  • Instead of humming (-m), extend the vowel found in the preceding svara variant (-a, -i)
  • As always, “be patient” …

To get going, click on “Details” and enjoy your practice!

Details

Select one of the exercises offered here:

  • 7 notes: Any sampurna (melakarta) raga
    7 notes: Any sampurna (melakarta) raga
  • 5 notes: raga Mohana
    5 notes: raga Mohana
  • 6 notes: raga Kuntalavarali
    6 notes: raga Kuntalavarali
  • 6 notes: ragas Sriranjani & Hamsanandi
    6 notes: ragas Sriranjani & Hamsanandi

Listen to Uma Ramasubramaniam demonstrating the svaras (notes) for the present raga(s) on Raga Surabhi >>

Practice with basic “Sa” = G#
Note: this recording has no fifth note “Pa”
(as advised for those janya ragas wherein “Pa” will not be sung or played)
Download this audio file (2 MB, 2 min. mono)
Credit: eSWAR / FS-3C Sruthi petti + Tanjore Tambura

Here comes another challenge

Details

Designed for anyone in search of new “Flow-” horizons through music:

  • Vary the vowels of svara syllables: –a, -i and -u yield ra-ri-ru, ga-gi-gu, ma-mi, dha-dhi-dhu, na-ni-nu.2
  • Examples
    – in raga Sankarabharanam (seven notes, mela 29), the variants sung are: “sa ri gu ma pa dhi nu”3
    – these variants also apply to many janya ragas like Hamsadhvani: “sa ri gu pa nu” (five notes)
    – in melakarta raga Gamanasrama (seven notes, mela 53), the corresponding variants are: “sa ra gu mi pa dhi nu“
    – its janya raga Hamsanandi (six notes) lacks pa: “sa ra gu mi dhi nu“
    – other variants apply to janya raga Sriranjani: “sa ri gi ma dhi ni“
    – the “parent raga” for Sriranjani (six notes) is Kharaharapriya (seven notes, mela 22) to which the following variants apply: “sa ri gi ma pa dhi ni”
  1. To learn more about the association of sound with colour, search the internet using the term “synesthesia”; according to a source cited on Wikipedia “individuals rarely agree on what color a given sound is”. [↩]
  2. These variations traditionally serve as memory aids (mnemonics) even if hardly used today:
    “a” for the lowest variant, “i” for the middle one, and “u” for the highest one, always depending on the melakarta raga a given janya raga is associated with. [↩]
  3. Please remember: sa and pa never vary (though pa is sometimes omitted altogether); ri, ga, dha and ni have three variants each (-a, -i and -u); and ma has two variants (-a and -i). [↩]

Bhava enables the transmission of experience of thoughts and emotions – Narayana Vishwanath

A brief introduction >>

CHENNAI: We are aware that the ultimate aim of every composer and musician is to achieve the coalescence, the essential factors of classical music namely bhava, raga and tala. We know bhava literally means, expression, the expression of existence. In a composition, bhava encompasses the aspects rasa, raga 1 and laya and for a musical composition to be meaningful and beautiful, it should be rich in bhava. In short, bhava is that which enables the transmission of experience of thoughts and emotions from the composer to the musician and from the musician to the listeners. We understand that bhava has to be experienced by every individual, in a personal and subjective manner and devotion is the pre-dominating aspect depicted in a musical composition. I am sure it would be of immense value to study the aspects of bhava, expressed by the musical trinity Thyagaraja, Dikshitar and Syama Sastri, who were contemporaries in the 18th century. […]

Source: “Efficacy of Bhava — An Evaluation” by Narayana Vishwanath, The New Indian Express (21st September 2015) >>

More about the above person(s) and topics

Periodicals and sites included | More resources | Disclaimer >>

Learn & practice more

  1. The most concise definition of a raga may be that by Joep Bor: a tonal framework for composition and improvisation. [↩]