My Book “THE MYSTIC CITADEL OF 22 SRUTIs MUSIC” pertains to an ancient corpus of Indian music, known as ‘Gandharva’ that was based on 22 tones (hereinafter narrated as ‘swaras’, in accordance with ancient Indian traditions). From available records, it appears that ‘Gandharva’ had remained ‘mystical’ and ‘elusive’, if not ‘extinct’, for too long. As per the narratives of medieval musicologists like Bharata Muni and Datilla Muni (200 B.C.E.), Gandharva was based on 22 swaras. The identities of seven of these swaras are found revealed as the seven oral tones of Holy Sama Veda (three to two millennia B.C.E.). These oral tones are found quantified in the narratives of Bharata as Sadja (Sa) = ‘0’ sruti, Rishabha (Ri) = 3 srutis, Gandhara (Ga) = 5 srutis, Madhyama (Ma) = 9 srutis, Panchama (Pa) = 13 srutis, Dhaivata (Dha) = 16 srutis, Nishada (Ni) = 18 srutis, Sadja Octave (Sa) = 22/ 0 srutis.   

    Gandharva was ‘sacred’ as it was the vehicle that would unite the human soul with the Divine. Performance of this class of music was strictly ‘rule-driven’; some of these ‘Rules’ had also been passed down through oral traditions since the Vedic past. In addition, some ‘clues’ to unlock the identities of the remaining fifteen swaras had also been disseminated. But these clues are cryptic and subtle. Subsequent musicologists have failed to interpret them and ensure the resurrection of the entire format of swaras. Therefore, Gandharva remains ‘mystic’ and locked within a ‘citadel’. That’s how, I happen to accord this Title ‘Mystic Citadel’, for my Book.

   After detailed deliberations, I observed that the clues to unlock Gandharva are NOT exclusive to Indian musicological resources; they are observable in other cultures too. A few examples are -- Pythagoras of Samos stated that ‘good music is founded on simple fractions; complex fractions are noise’. Sumerians symbolized their Pantheon of gods as simple fractions. Archytas (a contemporary of Pythagoras) mused, ‘music is that Divine Power which tends towards the Middle through Means’. The belief of Ancients that numbers from 1 to 12 are sacred and numbers from 13 onwards fall in Devil’s domain; however, number 22 is Divine’. As per the number theory of Mathematics, the family of 22 simplest fractions evolve between numbers 1 and 12.

    I realized that all these indicators get congruent on Gandharva. Gazing through this new prism, I found that the clues contained in the Indian musicological records are decodable and are not just jargons. I had elaborated these intricacies by way of blogs in this web-site. Viewers who have the ‘eyes for details’ are requested to peruse them please.

  Demonstrability of Gandharva in its developed form is still challenging. I have fabricated a ‘vina’ and a set of ‘harmoniums’ to elucidate the rudiments of Gandharva swaras. For improving the accuracy, I have also generated these swaras over the computer by way of audio tones. I have also elaborated on its musicology, based on scientific parameters. I leave these to the specialist composers, lyricists and musicians to evolve a new class of music from these resources.