Navaneetam (pronounced navanëtam, meaning the eternal new one) is a rÃÂgam in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is the 40th Melakarta rÃÂgam (parent scale) in the 72 melakarta rÃÂgam system of Carnatic music. It is called in Muthuswami Dikshitar school of Carnatic music. Navaneetham is a Sanskrit word meaning fresh butter. 'Nava' meaning fresh (new) and 'neetham' meaning butter.
It is the 4th rÃÂgam in the 7th chakra Rishi. The mnemonic name is Rishi-Bhu. The mnemonic phrase is sa ra ga mi pa dhi ni. Its ' structure (ascending and descending scale) is as follows (see swaras in Carnatic music for details on below notation and terms):
(this scale uses the notes shuddha rishabham, shuddha gandharam, prati madhyamam, chatushruti dhaivatam, kaisiki nishadam)
As it is a melakarta rÃÂgam, by definition it is a sampà «rá¹Âa rÃÂgam (has all seven notes in ascending and descending scale). It is the prati madhyamam equivalent of Vanaspati, which is the 4th melakarta rÃÂgam.
Navanëtam does not yet have a janya rÃÂgam (derived scale) associated with it. See List of janya rÃÂgams for full list of janya scales.
A few compositions set to Navaneetam scale are:
This section covers the theoretical and scientific aspect of this rÃÂgam.
Navaneetam's notes when shifted using Graha bhedam, yields no other melakarta rÃÂgam, like all 6 rÃÂgams in the Rishi chakra (Salagam, Jalarnavam, Jhalavarali, Pavani and Raghupriya being the other 5). Only these rÃÂgams have a gap of 3 notes anywhere in their scale, between G1 to M2. Such a gap does not occur in any other melakarta by definition. Graha bhedam is the step taken in keeping the relative note frequencies same, while shifting the shadjam to the next note in the rÃÂgam.