1. Among the raga trayodasa lakshanas, explain any five with examples.

Examples
should be other than those referred to in the reading material.

Graha- A Graha Swara is the beginning swara of the raga/melody. Each raga has a
different graha swara or group of graha swaras. For example, the graha swaras of raga
hindolam are shadjam, madhyama, and nishadha.
Amsa- The amsa swara is the most important swara in a raga. An amsa swara can also be
known as a jiva or vadi swara. The amsa swara gives the raga the required aesthetics and
is known as the note that gives life to the raga. For example, gandharam is the amsa swara
in raga Mohana. Gandharam is frequently used in Mohana, commonly used in janta
phrases (ga ga ri,,,, sa sa ri ri ga ga ri ri - in ninnukori Mohana varnam) and is also
considered a graha swara. Overall, an amsa swara plays a critical part in a raga and acts as
the cornerstone note.
Nyasa- A nyasa swara is the ending note of a raga. For example, gandharam,
madhyamam, and panchamam are the nyasa swaras of raga Shankarabharanam. There
are subdivisions of this raga lakshana, and they are apanyasa (medial rest), samnyasa (first
section to an end), and vinyasa (section within vidari ends). However, nyasa swara is the
overall ending note of a raga.
Audava- An audava raga is a raga that only has 5 swaras. An example of an audava raga
is hindolam. The murchana of hindolam is SGMDNS SNDMGS.
Shadava- A shadava raga is a raga that has 6 swaras. An example of a shadava raga is
Sriranjani. Sriranjani’s murchana is SRGMDNS SNDMGRS.

2. What are the uses of the 72 melakarta system?

The 72 melakarta system organizes the melakarta in an easily understandable way. The
melakartas are grouped into 12 groups (chakras) of 6 melakartas. By following the system
one can easily identify the swarasthanas of a melakarta. The first 36 melakartas are suddha
madhyama melakartas, and the last 32 are prati madhyama melakartas. The rishabha and
gandhara are paired into 6 varieties that change between chakra. The dhaivata and
nishadha are also paired into 6 varieties but change between each melakarta within a
chakra. In addition to helping in recognizing the swarasthanas of the melakartas without
memorizing them, it also helps recognize the name of the melakartas. The katapayadi rule
uses the Telugu language to order the melakarta’s numbers and their corresponding names.
The kadhinavam (first 9 letters), tadhinavam (second 9 letters), padi panchakam (next 5
letters), and yadhi ashtakam (last 8 letters) are the 4 groups of Telugu alphabets in the
katapayadi rule. Based on the number of the letter and what group the letter belongs to, the
first two letters in the melakarta’s name are given a number. The two numbers are switched,
and the resulting two-digit number (including 0 as the first #) is the number of the melakarta.
This makes it extremely easy to identify the name of the melakarta given the number and
vice versa. Overall, the 72 melakarta system is extremely useful as it provides a simple way
to name and identify the swarasthanas of the 72 melakartas without memorization involved.
 3. What is the speciality of Syamasastry’s music?

Shamasastry was the oldest of the Carnatic musical trinity and was a distinguished
composer that contributed greatly to Carnatic music. Unfortunately, many of his
compositions were lost and very few compositions are known. As few as 40 kritis are in use
presently. Shamasatry picked only a few disciples to teach his compositions to and this may
have contributed to the failure of preserving many of his compositions. Shamasastry’s
compositions were set in vilamba kala (slow tempo). An example of a kriti composed in
vilamba kala is ninnuvenagamari... which has many elongated syllables and is sung very
slowly. He also used “kadhali pakam” which means his compositions needed moderate
effort to understand the language that was being used. He used swara sahitya and
swaraskahaara as decorative angas of his kritis. Shamasastry also experimented with rare
ragas such as chintamani. Shamasatry’s swarajathis were significant because they were
complicated and aesthetic enough to be sabha gana swarajathis, which swarajathis rarely
are. He was extremely intrigued with complex talas and astonished many great musicians
with his perfect presentation of difficult talas. One of his favorite tala was the misra chapu
tala which had a 4+3 structure. Mariverugati in anandha bhairavi raga is a famous kriti in
misra chapu by Shamasastry. In addition to complex talas, Shamasastry also used anandha
bhairavi raga frequently in his compositions as he had a remarkable understanding of the
raga. Finally, a lot of his compositions praised goddess Kamakshi deivy for her
motherliness. He composed the navarathna malika kritis (group of kritis) in praise of
Kamakshi deivy. Overall, Shamasastry’s music is special because of the unique qualities his
compositions portray and the quality of the music composed by him.

4. What is the importance of laya in a Thillana as compared to other musical forms?

Thillana is a musical form that is rhythm-oriented. Laya is a tala Dasa prana that
literally means rhythm and rhythm is the rest between two kriyas. The three types of laya
are madhyakala laya (medium), dhruthakala laya (fast), and vilambakala laya (fast).
Thilanas can be set to any three of these layas. Thillanas are decorated with beautiful
rhythm patterns, and the patterns excite the listeners as they are extremely aesthetic.
Therefore, thillanas are set to be performed near the end of the concert, so the listeners will
remember the rhythms. Rhythm also plays a major part in distinguishing thillanas used in
dance versus signing. Thillanas heavy in rhythm are used in dance, while thillanas that
showcase raga bhava more are used in singing. Overall, laya or rhythm plays a vital part
especially in thillanas as they are the most rhythm-oriented form.