Chalanata

Chalanata is a rāgam in Carnatic music. It is the 36th Melakarta rāgam in the 72 melakarta rāgam system of Carnatic music. It is one of the few rāgams referred by the same name in Muthuswami Dikshitar school of Carnatic music.

Structure and Lakshana

It is the 6th rāgam in the 6th chakra Rutu. The mnemonic name is Rutu-Sha. The mnemonic phrase is sa ru gu ma pa dhu nu. Its structure is as follows :

[Arohana|]:
[Avarohana|]:

The notes used in this scale are shadjam, shatsruthi rishabham, antara gandharam, shuddha madhyamam, panchamam, shatsruthi dhaivatham and kakali nishadham. As it is a melakarta rāgam, by definition it is a sampurna rāgam. It is the shuddha madhyamam equivalent of Rasikapriya, which is the 72nd melakarta.

Janya Rāgams

Chalanāta has two popular janya rāgams associated with it, namely Nāta and Ghambheeranāta . Nāta ragam compositions are sung often in concerts and it overshadows Chalanāta. See List of Janya Rāgams for list of janya rāgams associated with Chalanāta.

Compositions

A few compositions set to Chalanāta are:

Rājadhirāja by Baluswami Dikshitar
Nagātmajā Manōharam by Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna
Margazhi Thingal by Andal
Madhava Panchakam by Oothukkadu Venkata Kavi
Edayya Gathi by Koteeswara Iyer

Related rāgams

This section covers the theoretical and scientific aspect of this rāgam.
Chalanata's notes when shifted using Graha bhedam, yields a major Melakarta rāgam Shubhapantuvarali. Graha bhedam is the step taken in keeping the relative note frequencies same, while shifting the shadjam to the next note in the rāgam. For further details and an illustration refer Graha bhedam on Chalanata.