...that Indian music, like Scottish and Irish music is modal and harmonic. ...During a performance it is this mood, colour or passion which the musician tries to evoke and explore, and according to ancient theory his task is made easier if the performance takes place at the time and in the ambiance proper to the raga.
Jamily and Reginald MasseyThe identity of any dance is incomplete without the music that accompanies it. The unique raga tala pattern of Sattriya music, the two categories of Sattriya vocal (raga based and light ), variations of presentation for different occasions at different sattras, musical instruments, as also unique features such as Gayan Bayan who sing, dance and initiate a traditional Sattriya performance.
Classical Carnatic music is but the continuance of ancient Indian music as it was prior to the advent of Persian influence and the attendant evolution of the Hindustani style. The Tamil areas in the South had from pre-historic times a well-developed, scientific, distinct style known as Pann. The Indian (later called the 'Carnatic' from the days of the work Manasollasa) and the Tamil Pann had coalesced invisibly during the middle ages and presently the South has the Carnatic music and the North has the Hindustani music - of course, both raga -based with common and distinct features.