Suladi Talas & Chapu Talas
Suladi talas: There are 7 Talas – dhruva, matya, rupaka, triputa, jhampa, ata and eka tala and 5 jaathis as explained in my previous post. Applying 5 jaathis to 7 talas will give totally 35 talas in the following manner. They are called suladi talas.
Tisra jaathi Dhruva Tala
Tisra jaathi matya tala
Tisra jaathi triputa tala…..etc
Then,
Chaturashra jaathi Dhruva tala
Chaturashra jaathi Matya tala,….etc
Same applies for rest of jaathis viz. Kanda, Mishra and Sankeerna.
1
Tisra Jaathi Dhruva
2
Tisra Jaathi Matya
3
Tisra Jaathi Rupaka
4
Tisra Jaathi Triputa
5
Tisra Jaathi Jhampa
6
Tisra Jaathi Ata
7
Tisra Jaathi Eka
8
Chaturashra Jaathi Dhruva
9
Chaturashra Jaathi Matya
10
Chaturashra Jaathi Rupaka
11
Chaturashra Jaathi Triputa
12
Chaturashra Jaathi Jhampa
13
Chaturashra Jaathi Ata
14
Chaturashra Jaathi Eka
15
Kanda Jaathi Dhruva
16
Kanda Jaathi Matya
17
Kanda Jaathi Rupaka
18
Kanda Jaathi Triputa
19
Kanda Jaathi Jhampa
20
Kanda Jaathi Ata
21
Kanda Jaathi Eka
22
Mishra Jaathi Dhruva
23
Mishra Jaathi Matya
24
Mishra Jaathi Rupaka
25
Mishra Jaathi Triputa
26
Mishra Jaathi Jhampa
27
Mishra Jaathi Ata
28
Mishra Jaathi Eka
29
Sankeerna Jaathi Dhruva
30
Sankeerna Jaathi Matya
31
Sankeerna Jaathi Rupaka
32
Sankeerna Jaathi Triputa
33
Sankeerna Jaathi Jhampa
34
Sankeerna Jaathi Ata
35
Sankeerna Jaathi Eka
Sri Purandaradasa has composed alankaras, Swaravalis,Gitas,etc in these talas.
Following table charts out symbols of Tala anghas and the 7 talas with their respective formats.
Tala Angha
Symbol
Description
Laghu
I
One beat and finger counts
Dhrutam
O
One beat and flipping palm
Anudrutam
U
One beat
Tala
Format
1 Dhruva
IOII
2 Matya
IOI
3 Rupaka
OI
4 Triputa
IOO
5 Jhampa
IUO
6 Ata
IIOO
7 Eka
I
As discussed earlier, laghu is based on jaati. A Kanda (5count) jaathi eka tala will have 1 beat and 4 finger counts as Eka tala just has Laghu (refer table above) Tisra jaathi Rupaka Tala will have 1 beat and flip followed by a beat and 2 finger counts .
Laghu is further broken down and denoted as X for the beat and 1, 2, 3 …for the finger count based on jaathi. Dhrutam is again denoted as X for the beat and a tick mark for flipping of palm. Example : Chaturashra jaathi rupaka tala is denoted as :
X V (Read V as tick symbol) |
X 1 2 3 |
S R |
S R G M |
1. Thisra Chaapu Tala – It is 3 (1+2) – Tha Ki Ta – 1 ½ AksharasKalas. It is actually 3 kriyas.
2. Chathusra Chaapu Tala – Ratio is 2:2 (2+2)- Tha Ka Dhi Mi.
3. Kanda Chaapu Tala – Ratio is 2:3 ( 2+3) – Tha Ka Tha Ki Ta – 2 ½ AksharaKalas. It is actually 5 Kriyas
4. Misra Chaapu Tala – Ratio is 3:2:2 (3+4) – Tha Ki Ta Tha Ka dhi Mi – 3 ½ AksharaKalas. It is actually 7 Kriyas.
5. Sankeerna Chaapu Tala – Ratio is 2:2:2:3 (4+5) – Tha Ka Dhi Mi Tha Ka Tha Ki Ta – 4 ½ AksharaKalas. It is actually 9 Kriyas.
The Aksharakalas mentioned for each chaapu tala is for common understanding and usage. Technically, it is denoted in number of kriyas. Mishra Chapu and Khanda chapu are the most famous chapu talas in usage currently. Shyama Shastri uses a special chapu called Viloma Chapu which is just the reverse of Mishra Chapu i.e. 4+3 count Tha Ka Dhi Mi Tha Ki Ta is the jathi.
Note: Chatusra Chaapu Tala is obsolete in Carnatic Music Applications and this tala is used in Bajans for the purpose of showing the beats with sound similar to clapping the hands.
Reference: www.mridangams.com, Theory of Music by Vidushi Vasantamadhavi
There are 72 mela talas corresponding to each melakarta raga.There are also 108 classical talas.Very little information is available about them. They have been mentioned in Sangeetha Chandrika.Longest known tala is Simhanandana tala with 128 counts. Maha Vaidyanadha Iyer is said to be an adept in this tala and had used this tala in his Kalyani RTP. His contemporary Pattanam Subramanya Iyer also used to sing Pallavis in this tala.