Karn. Āt. Ik Music: Svara, Gamaka, Phraseology and Rāga Identity

Over the last century in Karn. āt .ik 1 music, the method of understanding rāga has been to break it down into its various components, svara, scale, gamaka, and phrases. In this paper, an attempt is made to define the abstract concept of rāga in its entirety within the aesthetics of Karn. āt.ik music considering the various components and their symbiotic relationship. This paper also attempts to prove that the identity of a rāga exists as a whole. Section 2 explains the concept of a fundamental musical note or svara. Section 3 illustrates the concept of gamaka or inflections. Section 4 delves into the concept of rāga in detail and then flows into Section 5 which enunciates the identity of a rāga in terms of svara, gamaka, and phraseology. The paper concludes in Section 6, and Section 7 gives the references.