advanced Estimated learning time: 3 h
9.4 Katapayadi: a raga's number inside its name
Use the katapayadi rule to read a melakarta's number out of the first syllables of its name.
The names of the seventy-two parent scales are not arbitrary: the first two consonants of the name encode the number, by a letter-to-digit scheme older than the raga system itself. Once you can read it you never need the table again.
Work through these
Learn the letter groups and the digit each stands for.
Katapayadi system · ReferenceRead the number out of the name of a melakarta you know.
Work out the scale from the number, and check it against the raga.
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Links last checked 30 Aug 2026.
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