012 Chakras of Classical Indian Music.
Melakarta ragas are fundamental ragas from which other ragas may be generated. For this reason the melakarta ragas are
also known as janaka (parent) ragas. Melakarta ragas are also known as sampoorna ragas as they contain all seven swaras
(notes) of the octave in both the ascending and the descending mode. There are 72 melakarta ragas. The melakarta system of ragas was first propounded by Raamamaatya in his work Svaramelakalanidhi c. 1550. He is considered the father of the mela system of ragas. Later in the 17th century, Venkatamakhi expounded a new mela system in his Chaturdandi Prakasika, known today as the Melakarta system. The 72 Melakartas are further subdivided into twelve parts of six ragas each (12 x 6 = 72). These 12 parts are called Chakras, and we also have interesting nomenclature for them, which enable us to find out the exact Chakra number even from its name.
