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The swaras are said to have arisen from the Universe-pervading Sound of Om, which represents the drone notes SA and PA. The other swaras came from the 5 faces of Shiva. The story is told that RaavaNa, who was very devoted to Shiva, ripped out his guts and used them as strings to play the notes as Shiva kept time. RaavaNa kept playing, however, and threatened to shake the worlds and bring Shiva down from the heavens. In response, Shiva pressed him down to Earth with his big toe.

The table below lists some more interesting information about the Carnatic swaras, which are named shadjam (sa), rishabam (ri), gaandhaaram (ga), madhyamam (ma), pancamam (pa), dhaivatam (da), and nishaadam (ni). Each is associated with an animal, a color, a God of Hindu mythology, and a particular feeling (rasa).

swara	full name	Western	animal	color	god	rasa	meaning of name
sa	shadjam	do	peacock	light pink	Brahma	veera (courage), adbhuta (wonder), rowdra (anger)	giving birth (to next 6 notes)
ri	rishabam	re	bull (nandi)	parrot green	Agni (Fire, with Seeta)	veera (courage), adbhuta (wonder), rowdra (anger)	morality
ga	gaandhaaram	mi	goat	gold	Rudra (Shiva)	karuNaa (compassion)	fragrant, light
ma	madhyamam	fa	crane	white	Vishnu	karuNaa (compassion)	middle, intermediate
pa	pancamam	so	cuckoo	black	Naarada	hasya (laughter), shringaara (love)	fifth
da	dhaivatam	la	horse	yellow	GaNEsha	bibhatsa (disgust), bhayanaka (fear)	of gods, devas
ni	nishaadam	ti	elephant	multicolor	Surya (Sun)	karuNaa (compassion)	sit, lie down

Based on information provided by Smt. Padma Veeraraaghavan.

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