Well, like most systems of music across the world, Carnatic music also has seven basic notes,

the Sapta (seven)

Swaras (notes) in an octave. They are Shadja (Sa), Rishabha (Ri), Gandhara (Ga), Madhyama (Ma), Panchama
(Pa), Dhaivata (Dha) and Nishada (Ni). While Sa and Pa are the constant notes that remain fixed in any given
pitch, the rest of the five notes have variable values of two each. That gives us a total of twelve notes or
swarasthana-s in the octave (sthana literally means place or position). Isn't it amazing that different
civilizations across the globe have arrived at the same results through the centuries?
Anyway, here's what makes Carnatic music different. Although there are twelve swarasthana-s, they are called
by sixteen different names. This obviously means that there is some overlapping of the notes. This probably
happened only to accommodate peculiar ragas like Nata or Varali which already existed before all these
theories were propounded. So it was not with a view to be different that this idea was conceived, but only to
properly classify these differences. Here's a table of the sixteen notes with their Hindustani equivalents:
Carnatic swaras

Hindustani swaras

Shadja - Sa

Shadja - Sa

Shuddha Rishabha Ri 1

Komal Rishabh

Chatusruti Rishabha Ri 2

Shudha Rishabh

Shatsruti Rishabha Ri 3

Komal Gandhar

Shuddha Gandhara Ga 1

Shudha Rishabh

Sadharana Gandhara Ga 2

Komal Gandhar

Antara Gandhara Ga 3

Shudha Gandhar

Shuddha Madhyama Ma 1

Shudha Madhyam

Prati Madhyama Ma 2

Teevra Madhyam

Panchama

Pancham

Shuddha Dhaivata Da 1

Komal Dhaivat

Chatusruti Dhaivata Da 2

Shudha Dhaivat

Shatsruti Dhaivata Da 3

Komal Nishad

Shuddha Nishada Ni 1

Shudha Dhaivat

Kaisika Nishada Ni 2

Komal Nishad

Kakali Nishada Ni 3

Shudha Nishad

Now, from the table above, we can see that the sixteen different notes have been arrived at by increasing the
number of variables for the notes Ri, Ga, Da and Ni from two to three. So we still have one Sa and Pa, two Mas but three Ri-s, Ga-s, Da-s and Ni-s.
The interesting thing here is that Chatusrtui Rishabha (Ri 2) and Suddha Gandhara (Ga 1) share the same place
values. i.e., you would render them in the same place, but just call them by different names depending upon
the context. The same thing happens in the case of Shatsruti Rishabha (Ri 3) and Sadharana Gandhara (Ga 2);
Chatusruti Dhaivata (Da 2) and Suddha Nishada (Ni 1); and Shatsruti Dhaivata (Da 3) and Kaisika Nishada (Ni 2).
This unique feature is more obvious from the table of the Hindustani notes where Shudh Rishabh, Komal
Gandhar, Shudh Dhaivat and Komal Nishad occur twice.
Simply put,
Ri 2 = Ga 1

Ri 3 = Ga 2

Da 2 = Ni 1

Da 3 = Ni 2

This can be illustrated better with the help of the adjoining diagram. The notes on the left are the twelve
basic swarasthana-s and those given on the right are the four extra notes.

Why the sixteen names?

As said earlier, ancient Ragas like Nata (Ri 3 and Da 3) and Varali (Ga 1) use relatively uncommon notes. In
order to classify them properly, these notes had to be given a place. There are a few simple rules which
determine how the overlapping notes are used:

When Suddha Rishabha (Ri 1) and Chatusruti Rishabha (Ri 2) occur consecutively in the same raga, Ri 2
is sung as Ga 1 (Suddha Gandhara).
When Sadharana Gandhara (Ga 2) and Antara Gandhara (Ga 3) occur consecutively, then Ga 2 is sung as
Ri 3 (Shatsruti Rishabha).
Similarly, when Suddha Dhaivata (Da 1) and Chatusruti Dhaivata (Da 2) occur consecutively, then Da 2 is
sung as Ni 1 (Suddha Nishada).
And when Kaisika Nishada (Ni 2) and Kakali Nishada (Ni 3) occur consecutivesly, Ni 2 is sung as Shatsruti
Dhaivata (Da 3).

Of course, music being an art, there are cases when these rules are waived. However, we will come to that
later. In my next article, I shall talk about how the 16 notes combine to give scales and Ragas.