Swaramela Kalanidhi, a seminal 16th-century Carnatic music theory work by Ramamathya within the Vijayanagara Empire, addresses:
The categorization of ragas and melas.
The rudimentary development of the melakarta system.
A practical approach to music, prioritizing application over pure theory.
Significance:
It laid foundational groundwork for the subsequent 72 melakarta system.
Ramamathya's raga classifications incorporated aspects such as graha, amsa, and nyasa.
Other options explained:
(A) Bharata: Authored the Natya Shastra.
(B) Sarangadeva: Authored the Sangeetha Ratnakara.
(D) Venkatamakhi: Developed the 72 Melakarta raga scheme.