A Musicological Study: The Evolution of Music from Nāda to A New Structured Raga Derivation Framework

Music is not merely an art created by humans; it is a phenomenon that arose naturally with the universe itself. In cosmological thought, a minute primordial seed survived the great dissolution (pralaya) and later expanded to recreate the Sun, the Moon, celestial forms, and all living beings. This original emergence can be described poetically as the universe arising within the music of the nurturing sky.

The process of embryonic development mirrors this cosmic musicality. Just as music offers peace through an indescribable form of sound, embryonic growth unfolds through subtle vibrations, forming life in profound silence and calm. These vibrations are not random; they are ordered, rhythmic, and meaningful, much like music itself. Carnatic Music, therefore, existed before the world took form, not as melody or song, but as Nāda, the fundamental sonic principle.

Sound Before Form: The First Cosmic Age

This idea is beautifully articulated in Paripāṭal, particularly through the verses of Kīraṇḍaiyār. He describes a primordial state where form did not yet exist, but sound alone prevailed. This era, where existence was perceived through vibration rather than shape, may be understood as the First Cosmic Age.

Poetic Reference (Conceptual Summary)

Second Song – Invocation to Lord Tirumāl

Song link:
Composer: Kīraṇḍaiyār
Paṇ Composer: Nannākanār
Paṇ: Pālaiyāzh

The poem praises the ancient natural order where sound precedes creation, affirming that the universe itself unfolds from sonic essence.

From Cosmic Sound to Human Language

As the universe evolved over approximately 4.54 billion years, sound gradually transformed from cosmic vibration into biological rhythm, and eventually into structured communication. Today, research estimates that the world contains over 6,000 languages, all originating from this gradual refinement of sound.

Among these languages, music emerged where sound, meaning, emotion, and structure intersected. Musical instruments evolved from natural materials, such as wood, reeds, and animal skin, initially used in daily life and later refined into instruments for rhythm and melody.

Music and language evolved together, much like the developmental stages of a newborn child: sound first, meaning later, structure last.

The Growth of Music and Language in India

In the Indian subcontinent, linguistic and musical evolution occurred gradually. Linguists explain that as humans subtly altered the sounds they heard through repetition, emotion, and context, new languages emerged from older ones.

Music followed the same path, becoming increasingly structured while retaining emotional depth.

Age of Languages and Early Musical Evidence

Tamil Music: The Earliest Structured Rāga System

Based on evidence from the Sangam literature and later grammatical and musicological sources, the Tamil musical tradition may be regarded as one of the earliest structured melodic traditions. Literary and analytical studies indicate that early Tamil music operated within a systematically organized melodic framework that is comparable in function to later rāga systems.

Although the technical term “rāga” emerged in subsequent theoretical traditions, the Tamil Paṇ system demonstrates an early and coherent application of structured melodic grammar.

Continuity into Modern Carnatic Music

Many ancient Tamil Paṇs continue to exist in contemporary Carnatic music under transformed nomenclature and revised classificatory systems. This evolution reflects historical continuity rather than discontinuity.

In particular, although Indaḷa Paṇ later came to be identified under the name Māyāmāḷavagauḷa, no fundamental alteration is observable in its underlying swarasthāna structure, scalar movement (ārohaṇa–avarohaṇa), grammatical constraints, or core melodic identity.

The change may therefore be understood primarily as one of theoretical articulation and terminological reformulation rather than the creation of an entirely new melodic entity. Structural comparison suggests that the melodic essence remained continuous across historical phases.

Over several centuries, the Tamil Paṇ tradition interacted with regional musical practices, folk idioms, and evolving theoretical models. In the 17th century, Venkatamakhin articulated a systematic scalar classification framework. This framework was subsequently standardized in the 18th century by Govindacharya, resulting in the codified 72 Melakarta system.

Modern Carnatic music may therefore be understood not as a rupture from earlier Tamil musical systems, but as a historically layered development in which earlier Paṇ structures were rearticulated within a formalized theoretical framework.

 Early Tamil Melodic Organization

• Origins traceable to early historic Tamil culture, with evidence preserved in Sangam texts
  
• Structured use of 103 Paṇs within a functional melodic framework
  
• Early application of rāga-like scalar organization prior to the Melakarta–Janya hierarchical classification system
  
• Absence of a codified parent–child taxonomy in its earliest stages
  
• Aesthetic and emotional mapping based on landscape (tiṇai), season, and time

Transmission Across Languages

Sanskrit

• Paṇ names translated into Sanskrit
• Same 103 Paṇ system adapted linguistically

Kannada & Telugu

• Tamil Paṇ concepts absorbed via Sanskrit
• Classical compositions emerged
• In the 17th century, Venkatamakhin codified the 72 Melakarta system

Malayalam & Hindi

• Continued use of the Melakarta framework
• Hindustani music developed 10 Thāṭs
• Clear mother–child rāga classification

Stages of Musical Evolution

The Five Great Paṇs and Landscapes

This time-landscape theory is codified in Tolkāppiyam.

Modern Music, Carnatic Music.

Many ancient Paṇs survive today under new names.
For example:   Indaḷa Paṇ → Māyāmāḷavagauḷa

Through centuries of evolution, we can trace that all are deeply connected to human emotion, time, environment, and expression, etc.Like this, the 72 Mela kartha system evolved with the help of the 103 pan system and folk music ect, by tandardised by Govindacharya in the 18th century (building on earlier work by Venkatamakhi)

Then Devotional Preservation: The Bhakti Period

Between the 6th and 7th centuries CE, the Bhakti movement played a decisive role in preserving Tamil melodic traditions.

The hymns of:

Tēvāram and Tiruvācakam were rendered in specific Paṇs within temple practice. During this era, Music and poetry functioned as inseparable devotional music forms. Temple traditions preserved melodic continuity. Paṇ identities survived through lived performance.

Systematization and the Melakarta Framework Through cultural transmission. Paṇ concepts entered Sanskritic terminology. Melodic structures influenced Kannada and Telugu compositions. In the 17th century, Venkatamakhi codified the 72 Melakarta system — a comprehensive scalar classification method. Later, Hindustani music organized rāgas into ten Thāṭ frameworks. Several ancient Paṇs survive today under transformed names. For example: Indaḷa Paṇ corresponds closely to Māyāmāḷavagauḷa.

Historical Scope of Janya Rāgas

Traditionally:

Each Melakarta supported 10–20 commonly practiced janya rāgas.

Across 72 Melakartas, approximately 400–483 rāgas were documented.

Mathematical possibilities allowed up to 483 simple varja (note-omission) combinations per Melakarta.

Structural Discovery of Janya Rāgas (2022)

In 2022, Trichy S. Lakshmipriya conducted a systematic structural study of all 72 Melakarta rāgas under the guidance of Dr. P. Natrajan.

Through rigorous rāga–lakṣaṇa based validation, including analysis of ārohaṇa–avarohaṇa structures, scalar coherence testing, and aesthetic identity assessment, the research demonstrated that the Melakarta framework structurally supports a very large expansion of derivative rāgas.The study showed that the Melakarta system can generate 4000+ structured janya rāgas, along with several thousand vakra configurations derived through permissible melodic pathways.

Each rāga in the study was validated using the following criteria:

• Clear ārohaṇa–avarohaṇa structure
  
• Compliance with traditional rāga lakṣaṇa principles
  
• Distinct scalar identity within the Melakarta framework
  
• Aesthetic individuality consistent with rāga grammar
  

Based on systematic structural permutations of varja (note-omission) patterns, the research further demonstrated that Carnatic music accommodates possible varja rāga configurations within the Melakarta system.

Ishai priya ragam a janya from the 15th Melakarta Māyāmāḷavagauḷa:

Arohanam: S R₁ G₃ M₁ P S
Avarohanam: S N₃ D₁ P M₁ G₃ R₁ S

This rāga is named “Isai Priya” (Īsai Priya) and was discovered and formally structured by Lakshmi Priya.

Isai Priya is a janya rāga derived from the 15th Melakarta, Māyāmāḷavagauḷa. Its arohanam and avarohanam structurally correspond to the scalar framework associated with the ancient Tamil Paṇ Indhalam, thereby demonstrating continuity between the Tamil Paṇ tradition and the later Melakarta classification.

Swarasthāna Structure (15th Melakarta – Māyāmāḷavagauḷa)

• S (Shadjam)
  
• R₁ (Shuddha Rishabham)
  
• G₃ (Antara Gandharam)
  
• M₁ (Shuddha Madhyamam)
  
• P (Panchamam)
  
• D₁ (Shuddha Dhaivatam)
  
• N₃ (Kakali Nishadam)

Isai Priya, as a janya of Māyāmāḷavagauḷa, operates strictly within these swarasthānas without the inclusion of anya swaras. The rāga employs a varja-based structure in ascent, omitting Dhaivatam and Nishadam, while retaining the full scalar descent aligned with its Melakarta parent.

Thus, from a theoretical standpoint, Isai Priya exemplifies how a janya rāga can emerge through selective omission while preserving the parent scale’s swarasthāna integrity. The rāga maintains scalar coherence, Lakshana compliance, and aesthetic individuality within the grammatical framework of the 15th Melakarta.

This further supports the conclusion that the Melakarta system is dynamically expandable within grammatical boundaries rather than numerically fixed.

This work establishes that the Melakarta framework is dynamically expandable within grammatical boundaries rather than numerically fixed.

From Theory to Living Music

The structural findings were translated into practical musicianship: Original compositions were created in newly structured rāgas.Lyrics were aligned with rāga grammar. Characteristic phrases were demonstrated. Notational documentation provided compositional evidence. Thus, theoretical expansion became artistic realization.

Learn Carnatic Music with Artium 

From primordial Nāda to refined Rāga, music is not a human invention, it is a living continuum of cosmic vibration shaped into aesthetic experience. Carnatic music is not merely sound. It is structured emotion, disciplined imagination, and codified beauty, refined through centuries of scholarship, devotion, and creative genius. 

From the ancient Paṇ traditions of Tamil music to the mathematically elegant Melakarta system, this tradition has always embodied both vastness and precision. Within its framework lies immeasurable creative potential. The expansion and validation of 4000+structured Janya Rāgas demonstrate that Carnatic music is not a static heritage; it is an evolving intellectual and artistic universe. 

At Artium, learning carnatic music means: Understanding the science behind swara and shruti, experiencing rāga as emotions, etc. Discover the depth. Experience the lineage. Participate in a tradition that continues to unfold. Modern music is not separate from the past; it is the latest flowering of an ancient sonic principle that began as vibration itself. Step into the continuum.