Valaji is a symmetric rāgam that does not contain
rishabham or
madhyamam. It is a pentatonic scale (
audava-audava rāgam in Carnatic music classification). Its ''
structure (ascending and descending scale) is as follows (see swaras'' in Carnatic music for details on below notation and terms): • Arohana| : • Avarohana| : (the notes used in this scale are
shadjam, antara gandharam, panchamam, chathusruthi dhaivatham and kaisiki nishadham)
Valaji is considered a
janya rāgam of
Chakravakam, the 16th
Melakarta rāgam, though it can be derived from other melakarta rāgams,
Harikambhoji,
Vagadheeswari,
Ramapriya,
Vachaspati or
Nasikabhooshani, by dropping both
rishabham and
madhyamam. Since
Chakravakam is lowest in ordinal number among these 6
melakarta scales,
Valaji is associated with it. == Popular compositions ==