The 72 melakarta ragas are split into 12 groups called chakras, each containing 6 ragas. The ragas within the chakra differ only in the dhaivatham and nishadham notes (D and N), as illustrated below. The name of each of the 12 chakras suggest their ordinal number as well.
- Indu stands for the moon, of which we have only one – hence it is the first chakra.
- Netra means eyes, of which we have two – hence it is the second.
- Agni is the third chakra as it denotes the three divyagnis (fire, lightning and Sun).
- Veda denoting four Vedas is the name of the fourth chakra.
- Bana comes fifth as it stands for the five banas of Manmatha.
- Rutu is the sixth chakra standing for the 6 seasons of Hindu calendar.
- Rishi, meaning sage, is the seventh chakra representing the seven sages.
- Vasu stands for the eight vasus of Hinduism.
- Brahma comes next of which there are 9.
- The 10 directions, including akash (sky) and patal (nether region), is represented by the tenth chakra, Disi.
- Eleventh chakra is Rudra of which there are eleven.
- Twelfth comes Aditya of which there are twelve.
These 12 chakras were also established by Venakatamakhi.
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