raagawheel

Mela 37Rishi chakraM2

Salagam

The name is the number

Salagam

Sasa7lala373 reversed37

Plain dental sa = 7 (not śa = 5 or ṣa = 6); 3·10 + 7 = 37.

Every mela name encodes its own number — how the katapayadi sutra works.

SSR1R1G1G1M2M2PPD1D1N1N1SS (upper octave)

SS (upper octave)N1N1D1D1PPM2M2G1G1R1R1SS

How to know it

A stark, austere vivadi scale — chromatic at the bottom, bare at the top — heard almost only in scholarly full-melakarta repertoire.

Hear it in songs

  • Ganamudham

    Koteeswara Iyer · Adi

    From Kanda Ganamutham, Koteeswara Iyer's cycle of Tamil krithis on Muruga covering all 72 melakartas — for many vivadi melas like Salagam it is virtually the only concert piece.

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