In the game of seven stones the objective is to keep putting back the chosen seven stones in a vertical order in spite of disruptions. The order in which the stones are put back can vary, but the structure should be vertical. That is the only condition. So when we play a game of seven stones with the seven notes a raga (the base for a tune) is born. Raga is nothing but a specific combination of notes. Each time the order of the seven stones (oops! notes) changes newer and newer tunes are born which are so beautiful that they can make your heart leap with joy or move you to tears. Go ahead get introduced to the Carnatic raga - rage.

Structure of a Raga

To put it very simplistically, Raga is a musical scale having a definite combination of notes-in the ascending and descending order ( i.e in the Arohana and Avarohana). For eg.

S R1 G2 M1 P D1 N2 S;
S N2 D1 P M1 G2 R1 S

is a raga called Mayamalavagowla.

Types of Ragas

From sorrowful ragas to joyous ones
A Raga actually means much more than a mere combination of notes.

A Raga can be sung/played without lyrics or rhythm.
Each Raga has a mood.
You have Ragas which display the emotions of happiness, sorrow, anger etc.

You have Ragas that remind you of sunrise, dusk or night. These ragas are subject to time theory.

Time Theory

My work time is from 9 bilahari to 5 vasantha.

According to the time theory, there is a relation between a particular raga and a certain fixed time at which the raga should be rendered. The time theory has been done away with in Carnatic Music system while the Hindustani system still follows the theory. The Raga-s were classified into those which were to be rendered at dawn, morning, noon, afternoon, evening, dusk, night and mid-night.
Listen to these audio clips of ragas depicting dusk and the night.

Moods of Raga

A Raga for every mood The word rasa means passion; it is identified with feelings and emotions. According to one school of thought, each raga is associated with a specific rasa or emotion. The nine rasas are-

RASA MEANING
sringara	love
veera	valour
karuna	sympathy
raudra	anger
bhaydnaka	fear
bhibatsa	disgust
hasya	humour
adbhuta	wonder
santi	peace

Melakartha Ragas

Parent Ragas

It just takes a little bit of mathematics and biology to understand this system of ragas.

Lets start with Biology.

When a child is born, it bears close resemblances to its parents.

Yet no matter how closely a child may resemble its parent, it grows up to have distinct features and individual characteristics of its own.

Listing of Ragas

List of Carnatic Ragas with the corresponding Hindustani Ragas
Melam	Carnatic Raga	That	Hindustani Raga
20	Abheri	10	Dhanasri
20	Abhogi	10	Aabhogikannada
65	Anandh	1	Aanandh
29	Aro : Hamsadhvani	1	65Hamsa KalyaniAva: Kalyani
22	Aro: Madhyamavathi	10	Sanchaldas MalharAva: Pushpalathika
22	Bagesri, Suddha Bhairavi	10	Bagesri