Carnatic raga
A melakarta with an exotic, haunting colour.
Your guide to Simhendramadhyamam
New to classical music — moods, stories, film songs and simple listening.
Press play to hear the notes of Simhendramadhyamam, rising then falling.
Karuna. Traditionally heard at evening.
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Think of a raga as more than a scale: a set of rules and a personality. Simhendramadhyamam has its own notes, its own favourite phrases, its own time of day and its own mood, the way a person has a recognisable voice and way of talking.
Simhendramadhyamam sounds soft and wistful, in a mood closer to a Western minor key. Its emotional colour is tenderness and sorrow, the feeling of a sad song that still comforts you. Traditionally it is traditionally performed in the evening, because Indian musicians believe each raga matches the feeling of a certain hour or season.
A melakarta with an exotic, haunting colour. The beauty of Simhendramadhyamam comes from patience: a good performer doesn't rush through the scale but lingers, bending into notes and letting each phrase breathe, so the mood builds slowly until it fills the room.
Listening exercise: Try this: press "Full scale" above, then open one of the recordings below. In the first few minutes, see if you can hear the melody circling back to Sa. Once you catch it, you've started to recognise Simhendramadhyamam.
The 72-melakarta system was devised by Venkatamakhin in his treatise Chaturdandi Prakasika (c. 1660). It is a mathematical grid that lists every possible seven-note scale built from Carnatic swara variants.
The melakarta names used today, encoded with the Katapayadi system so each name reveals its number, were standardised later by Govindacharya in the 18th century. Many melakartas existed only on paper until composers like Muthuswami Dikshitar and later Koteeswara Iyer wrote pieces in all 72.
The Carnatic Trinity of the 18th–19th centuries (Tyagaraja, Muthuswami Dikshitar and Syama Sastri) gave lasting shape to most popular ragas through their compositions. Their kritis remain the standard reference for how each raga should move.
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Arohana (ascent) · 7 notes
S R2 G2 M2 P D1 N3 S
Avarohana (descent) · 7 notes
S N3 D1 P M2 G2 R2 S
Synthesised with Sa = A3. A real performance uses gamakas, meends and phrasing that a bare scale can't capture.
| Swara | Interval from Sa | Western (Sa = C) |
|---|---|---|
| Shadjam | Unison | C |
| Chatushruti Rishabham (R2) / Shuddha Gandharam (G1) | Major 2nd | D |
| Shatshruti Rishabham (R3) / Sadharana Gandharam (G2) | Minor 3rd | D# |
| Prati Madhyamam (M2) | Augmented 4th | F# |
| Panchamam | Perfect 5th | G |
| Shuddha Dhaivatam (D1) | Minor 6th | G# |
| Kakali Nishadam (N3) | Major 7th | B |
Jati (Sampurna–Sampurna). The ascent uses 7 distinct notes and the descent 7. Audava = 5, Shadava = 6, Sampurna = 7.
Vakra (zig-zag) movement. The scale doubles back on itself, so phrases have to follow its characteristic turns, not run straight up or down.
Parent scale. Melakarta 57 sits in chakra 10 of 12 and uses prati madhyamam (M2). Simhendramadhyamam is a parent (melakarta) scale with all seven notes in strict order.
Time (Evening). Sung at twilight or evening (roughly 4–9 PM), when sandhi-prakash and Kalyan-family ragas are favoured.
Karuna
Compassion, pathos and sorrow.
Each link opens a YouTube or Spotify search for this raga by the instrument or artist.
Same notes, but a different character because of emphasis, movement and phrasing.
Simhendramadhyamam is associated with: Evening.
Ragas that sound most like Simhendramadhyamam, and how to tell them apart.
No well-known Hindi film song is confidently attributed to this raga yet.
No regional film song is confidently attributed to this raga yet.
Film songs often take liberties with a raga, so treat these as "based on" rather than strict renditions.
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Notation: Hindustani komal notes are lowercase (r g d n), M# = tivra Ma, ' = upper octave. Carnatic numbers mark swara variants (R1, G3, …).