In Indian classical music theory, how many swarasthanas (semitone positions) are physically present within one octave?
12
While an octave in Indian classical music is commonly described using the 7 basic swaras (Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, Ni), several of these swaras also have shuddha, komal, or tivra variants.
When all these physically distinct pitch positions within one octave are counted, they total 12 swarasthanas, matching the 12 semitone positions found in an octave.
This is why 12, not 7, is the count of actual physical semitone positions in one octave.
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