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Ṭhāṭa 

Inspired by the work of Mohammed Rezza and the system of the seventy-two melakartā (basic scales) of karnāṭika music, Bhātkhaṇde introduced a system of classification that categorizes the ragas of hindustani in ten parent scales called ṭhāṭa ("list", "rank"). Each one of these ṭhāṭa is composed of seven svara organized in a direct ascending order and is named after a major raga of hindustani music: Kalyāṇa, Bilāvala, Khamāja, Bhairava, Pūrvī, Māravā, Kāfī, Āsāvarī, Bhairavī and Toḍī. The classification method consists mainly in grouping the ragas on the basis of their scale, without much consideration for their melodic personality. This classification system has its own problems that were raised by several musicologists, including Bhātkhaṇde himself. For example, it remains difficult to classify pentatonic (auḍuva) and hexatonic (ṣāḍava) ragas as well as those who have two forms of the same svara as these ragas can technically be placed in more than one ṭhāṭa. Despite its intrinsic limitations, the system of ṭhāṭa is today generally accepted amongst musicians and musicologists.

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santoor

raga

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indian classical music

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