Navaneetam

Navaneetam is a rāgam in Carnatic music. It is the 40th Melakarta rāgam in the 72 melakarta rāgam system of Carnatic music. It is called in Muthuswami Dikshitar school of Carnatic music.
Navaneetham is a Sanskrit word meaning fresh butter. 'Nava' meaning fresh and 'neetham' meaning butter.

Structure and Lakshana

It is the 4th rāgam in the 7th chakra Rishi. The mnemonic name is Rishi-Bhu. The mnemonic phrase is sa ra ga mi pa dhi ni. Its structure is as follows :

[Arohana|]:
[Avarohana|]:

As it is a melakarta rāgam, by definition it is a sampūrṇa rāgam. It is the prati madhyamam equivalent of Vanaspati, which is the 4th melakarta rāgam.

''Janya'' rāgams

Navanītam does not yet have a janya rāgam associated with it. See List of [Janya Ragas#Navaneetam|List of janya rāgams] for full list of janya scales.

Compositions

A few compositions set to Navaneetam scale are:

Srinatha Sodarim and Nabhomani Chandragni Nayanam by Muthuswami Dikshitar in Sanskrit
Lēmidelpa Peddalevāru by Thyagaraja in Telugu in Navaneetham
Nayeda Vanchana Seyakura by Thyagaraja in Telugu in Nabhomani
Sami Idhe Nalla Samayam by Koteeswara Iyer in Tamil
Himātmajē Santatam Pāhimām by Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna in Sanskrit
Umāpati Pāhi by Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna in Telugu

Related rāgams

This section covers the theoretical and scientific aspect of this rāgam.
Navaneetam's notes when shifted using Graha bhedam, yields no other melakarta rāgam, like all 6 rāgams in the Rishi chakra. Only these rāgams have a gap of 3 notes anywhere in their scale, between G1 to M2. Such a gap does not occur in any other melakarta by definition. Graha bhedam is the step taken in keeping the relative note frequencies same, while shifting the shadjam to the next note in the rāgam.