Melakarta names, numbers and notes

Scroll down to the end of the page to see the melakarta wheel.

The melakarta names are based on a mnemonic system, where:

• the first two letters of the name tell you the melakarta number
• the number itself then tells you the notes in the scale:
  1. If the number is less than 37, the scale has M1 else M2.
  2. The integer quotient of this number divided by 6 tells you which chakra the scale belongs to, and hence which R & G are used.
     Let RG = Integer((N-1)/6) % 6. The following are the possible values of RG:
     • 0: R1, G1
     • 1: R1, G2
     • 2: R1, G3
     • 3: R2, G2
     • 4: R2, G3
     • 5: R3, G3
  3. The remainder of the number divided by 6 tells you which D & N are used.
     Let DN = (N-1) % 6. The following are the possible values of DN:
     • 0: D1, N1
     • 1: D1, N2
     • 2: D1, N3
     • 3: D2, N2
     • 4: D2, N3
     • 5: D3, N3

The table below shows the mapping between numbers and syllables. The name of the table "Katapayadi" is based on the syllables in the first column in the table. All the syllables in column 1 have the value 1; the ones in column 2 have the value 2 and so on.

Katapayadi ( कटपयादि ) Table

Here is the table listing the 72 melakartas:

Melakartas Table