SOME MORE DISCUSSION...

(Skip this chapter if you want to during the first reading ! But, on other hand, the Melakarta scheme is a fascinating piece of classification. You might want to read it for the fun of it)
A scholar named Venkatamakhin invented the Melakarta scheme, way back in the seventeenth century. He was the first to comprehensively classify Ragams in a 'Periodic table' like arrangement. A complete list of the 72 Melakarta Ragams is given in Table IV with the corresponding scales. When Venkatamakhin devised his Table, only a few of the 72 Ragams were known. Using his schematization Venkatamakhin not only cataloged the existing Melakarta Ragams, but also filled in the 'gaps' by coming up with the key sequence for the rest of the Melakarta Ragams. Thus this scheme helped 'discover' new Melakarta Ragams, which in turn led to even newer derivative or child Ragams using those. Composers and performers lapped it up and made songs in the newer, hitherto unknown Ragams. In Table IV, the ragam number 29 is our friendly ragam, Shankarabharanam, although its less well-known official name DhheeraShankarabharanam is used in the table.
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Table IV
The 72 Melakarta Ragams and their scales

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# Name Ri ga Dha ni # Name Ri ga Dha ni

Suddha Madhyamam (M1) Prati Madhyamam (M2)

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1 Kanakanki R1 G1 D1 N1 37 Salagam R1 G1 D1 N1

2 Ratnangi R1 G1 D1 N2 38 Jalarnavam R1 G1 D1 N2

3 Ganamurti R1 G1 D1 N3 39 Jhalavarali R1 G1 D1 N3

4 Vanaspati R1 G1 D2 N2 40 Navaneetam R1 G1 D2 N2

5 Manavati R1 G1 D2 N3 41 Pavani R1 G1 D2 N3

6 Tanarupi R1 G1 D3 N3 42 Raghupriya R1 G1 D3 N3

7 Senavati R1 G2 D1 N1 43 Gavambodhi R1 G2 D1 N1

8 Hanumatodi R1 G2 D1 N2 44 Bhavapriya R1 G2 D1 N2

9 Dhenuka R1 G2 D1 N3 45 Subhapantuvarali R1 G2 D1 N3

10 Natakapriya R1 G2 D2 N2 46 Shadvigamargini R1 G2 D2 N2

11 Kokilapriya R1 G2 D2 N3 47 Suvarnangi R1 G2 D2 N3

12 Rupavati R1 G2 D3 N3 48 Divyamani R1 G2 D3 N3

13 Gayakapriya R1 G3 D1 N1 49 Dhavalambari R1 G3 D1 N1

14 Vakulabharanam R1 G3 D1 N2 50 Namanarayani R1 G3 D1 N2

15 Mayamalavagoulai R1 G3 D1 N3 51 Kamavardhini R1 G3 D1 N3

16 Chakravaham R1 G3 D2 N2 52 Ramapriya R1 G3 D2 N2

17 Suryakantam R1 G3 D2 N3 53 Gamanasrama R1 G3 D2 N3

18 Hatakambhari R1 G3 D3 N3 54 Viswambhari R1 G3 D3 N3

19 Jhankaradhwani R2 G2 D1 N1 55 Syamalangi R2 G2 D1 N1

20 Natabhairavi R2 G2 D1 N2 56 Shanmukhapriya R2 G2 D1 N2

21 Keeravani R2 G2 D1 N3 57 Simhendramadhyamam R2 G2 D1 N3

22 Kharaharapriya R2 G2 D2 N2 58 Hemavati R2 G2 D2 N2

23 Gourimanohari R2 G2 D2 N3 59 Dharamavai R2 G2 D2 N3

24 Varunapriya R2 G2 D3 N3 60 Nitimati R2 G2 D3 N3

25 Mararanjani R2 G3 D1 N1 61 Kantamani R2 G3 D1 N1

26 Charukesi R2 G3 D1 N2 62 Rishabhapriya R2 G3 D1 N2

27 Sarasangi R2 G3 D1 N3 63 Latangi R2 G3 D1 N3

28 Harikambhoji R2 G3 D2 N2 64 Vachaspati R2 G3 D2 N2

29 Dheerasankarabharanam R2 G3 D2 N3 65 Mechakalyani R2 G3 D2 N3

30 Naganandini R2 G3 D3 N3 66 Chitrambhari R2 G3 D3 N3

31 Yagapriya R3 G3 D1 N1 67 Sucharitra R3 G3 D1 N1

32 Ragavardhini R3 G3 D1 N2 68 Jyotiswarupini R3 G3 D1 N2

33 Gangeyabhusani R3 G3 D1 N3 69 Dhatuvardhini R3 G3 D1 N3

34 Vagadheeswari R3 G3 D2 N2 70 Nasikabhusani R3 G3 D2 N2

35 Sulini R3 G3 D2 N3 71 Kosalam R3 G3 D2 N3

36 Chalanattai R3 G3 D3 N3 72 Rasikapriya R3 G3 D3 N3