Janya raga · parent: 16. Chakravakam

Kalavati

◐ Confidence: medium Last verified: 12 Oct 2026

Scale

Derived from the printed scale: audava in the ascent and shadava in the descent (5 notes up, 6 down); varjya: G and N in the ascent; N in the descent; upanga (only notes of its parent).

Beginner's explanation

Kalavati is a janya raga : it is derived from the melakarta Chakravakam (number 16), which means it takes its notes from that parent's scale. It uses only notes of its parent, so it is an Upanga raga.

Going up, its notes are S R1 M1 P D2 S'; coming down, S' D2 P M1 G3 R1 S. Its ascent uses 5 different notes and its descent 6. Notes of the parent that it leaves out are Varjya : G and N going up, N coming down.

If Sa is C on a keyboard, the notes it uses fall on C, D♭, E, F, G, A. This only shows where the notes sit: a raga is more than its notes, and its ornaments and phrases are not shown here.

A bit deeper

Its parent. Kalavati is placed under Chakravakam (melakarta 16) by karnatik.com, the source for this page's parent. Of the parent's seven notes it does not use N2.

Other possible parents. Because Kalavati leaves out some notes, 2 melakartas contain every one of its notes (Chakravakam and Suryakantam). Books usually pick one by convention, and different books can pick differently.

Why start here? How likely you are to meet it

●●● (rating 3 of 3: 1 = met very often)

Rating 3 of 3 (editorial, a rough guide to how often you are likely to meet this raga): it is not among the top 100 ragas in karnatik.com's tally of compositions per raga (based on a list of 38,000 songs), so a beginner will meet it less often. A 1 means met very often and 3 means met rarely. It says nothing about how hard the raga is to sing, which depends on its ornaments and is not rated here. The tally counts songs by raga name and dates from 2011.

Characteristic features

Key notes, characteristic phrases and ornaments are not recorded here yet: they could not be confirmed from two sources, and this site leaves them out rather than guess.

Where the notes sit

Related ragas

• 16. Chakravakam

Compare with another raga

Notable compositions (titles only)

Songs listed for this raga on karnatik.com by composers covered on this site. Lists are community-compiled, so a missing song does not mean it does not exist. Talas are as the source names them; no lyrics are reproduced.

Muthuswami Dikshitar

• Kalavati Kamalasana Yuvati Adi·Sanskrit

Tyagaraja

• Ennadu Jutuno Adi·Telugu
• Okapari Judaga Adi·Telugu

How this was checked

• Partly agree: Scale of Kalavati: ascent S R1 M1 P D2 S'; descent S' D2 P M1 G3 R1 S. Sources: Royal Carpet: Carnatic Ragas; List of Janya ragas. The two sources differ; see Variations & debates.
• Sources agree: Kalavati is a janya of melakarta number 16, Chakravakam. Sources: Royal Carpet: Carnatic Ragas; Royal Carpet: Introduction to Carnatic Raga (the melakarta ragas). Parent per karnatik.com. Consistency check: every note of the raga is in the parent's scale (the parent's own scale is confirmed in two sources).