The Origin of Saptaswara Sounds

One interesting fact that the origin of swara's gives us is that they were derived from Mother Nature Herself! The tonal
quality of each note is associated with the call of a specific animal or bird, as listed below:

SWARA         NOTATION        SOURCE

Shadja                  S                  Cry of the peacock
Rishabha                R                  Lowing of the bull
Gaandhaara            G                 Bleating of a goat
Madhyama              M                Call of the heron
Panchama                P                 Call of the cuckoo
Dhaivata                 D                 Neighing of the horse
Nishaada                N                Trumpeting of the elephant

Raghu