Module 3: Sound fundamentals · Lesson 3

The twelve swarasthanas

● Confidence: high Last verified: 12 Oct 2026

Sixteen names, twelve positions

A Swarasthana is a position for a note within an octave. There are twelve positions, which this site counts as one semitone apart (a simplification, because the sources consulted do not give exact pitch ratios), but there are sixteen note names, because four pairs of names point to the same position.

Read the table from top to bottom. Each row is one pitch, counted in semitones above Sa. The four rows with two names are the four shared positions:

• R2 = G1 (position 3)
• R3 = G2 (position 4)
• D2 = N1 (position 10)
• D3 = N2 (position 11)

Why do two names share a pitch?

The names belong to roles in a scale, not to pitches. A scale has a Ri slot and a Ga slot, and the same pitch is named by the slot it fills. The pitch at position 3 is called R2 when it fills the Ri slot and G1 when it fills the Ga slot.

Two examples show this. The raga Kanakangi (melakarta number 1) has notes on positions 1, 2 and 3: they are named S, R1 and G1. The raga Kharaharapriya has notes on positions 1, 3 and 4: they are named S, R2 and G2. The same pitch (position 3) is called G1 in the first and R2 in the second, because it plays a different role.

Consequences

• A raga cannot use R2 and G1 together, because they are the same pitch, so a scale with both would sound one position twice. The same goes for R3 with G2, D2 with N1, and D3 with N2.
• This is why only certain combinations of Ri and Ga (and Dha and Ni) are possible. The raga module shows that this leaves exactly six combinations for Ri with Ga, and six for Dha with Ni.

The full names

The long names in the table describe the variants: Shuddha (pure), Chatushruti (four-shruti), Shatshruti (six-shruti), Sadharana, Antara, Kaishiki, Kakali, and for Ma, Shuddha and Prati. The words chatushruti and shatshruti literally contain the numbers four and six, and belong to the older way of counting in 22 shrutis, as mentioned in the first lesson. You will meet these names mainly in the raga data on this site.

Hear the twelve positions

Press a note to hear it, or choose a melakarta to see which positions it uses. Turn sound on with the speaker button at the top right first.