Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni
The study of Indian music begins with SWAR SAPTAKA.
Swar means tone and Saptaka means a cluster of Seven.
So, a Swar Satpka is a group of seven Swaras.
The first is Sa. It is a short name of SHADJA. Shadja means creator of six. Six are the remaining Swaras e.g. Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha and Ni.
Every Swar has its own name in full.
Re is Rishabh.
Ga is Gandhar.
Ma is Madhyam.
Pa is Pancham.
Dha is Dhaivat and
Ni is Nishad.
The name Rishabh (Vrushabha) is derived from the form of bull.
Ga is named after a part of ancient India Gandhar (presently in Afghanistan).
Ma is an indication of a centre point – Madhyam. (It is in the centre of the Saptaka).
Pa means Pancham i.e. the fifth.
Dha is derived from the creed of gods i.e. Daivat.
Ni is also derived from a jungle creed Nishad.
An amusing fact of the Sapta Swaras is they are the imitations of the sounds of birds and animals.
In ancient texts of music every Swar has its own colour. (Recently Russian scientist Kujonov has also scientifically proved that every tone has colours).
