At the request of many Thiruppukazh Anbarkal, I prepared detailed explanations of thALams for 501 songs in Thiruppukazh Isai Vazhipadu, vEl, mayil, sEval viruththams and thiru-vakuppukaL. These and a short discussion on basics of thALams are posted in the following Blogspot sites.
thALam Basics : thalam-basics.blogspot.com
In the following sites, you can search for the explanation of the thALam of any particular song using the old and new numbers of the song as per the TIV book.
thALaviLakkam in Tamil script : thalams-in-tamil.blogspot.com
thALam explanation in English script. : thalams-in-english.blogspot.com
Guruji Raghavan has set the thALams for the Thiruppukazh songs based on the chanDams of the song.
For conversion of some ChanDam notations to ‘aksharams’ refer to the table below.
| ChanDam | thALa notation | aksharam viLamba | aksharam maDhyama |
| tha-na = 1+1 | thaka | 2 | 1 |
| tha-na-na = 1+1+1 thA-na = 2+1 tha-nA = 1+2 tha-n-Da = 1+1+1 tha-y-ya = 1+1+1 | tha-ki-ta | 3 | 11/2 |
| thA-na-na = 2+1+1 tha-n-tha-na = 1+1+1+1 tha-na-th-tha = 1+1+1+1 thA-na-m = 2+1+1 tha-na-nA = 1+1+2 | tha-ka-Dhi-mi | 4 | 2 |
| tha-th-tha-na-th =1+1+1+1+1 thA-na-nA = 2+1+2 than-Da-na-m = 1+1+1+ 1 | tha-ka-tha-ki-ta tha-ki-ta-tha-ka | 5 | 21/2 |
| thA-na-n-tha-na = 2+1+1+1+1 | tha-ka-Dhi-mi-tha-ka | 6 | 3 |
As suggested by Guruji in 2000, when he visited Thiruvananthapuram, I started explaining the TIV thALams in our classes.
Over the next several years, I got the opportunity to explain TIV thALams in various places in Kerala. I gave several lec-dems in the Music Department of Kerala University in Thiruvananthapuram and in RLC College in Thrippunithura. In 2004, I presented a paper on Thiruppukazh Thalams in the Refresher Course, UGC-Academic Staff College, University of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram.
In 2018, I published 25 YouTube video clips giving an introduction of the Saptha thALams and how they have been used in several TIV songs as well as ‘anga thALams’ for other TIV songs. The links are given below.
Links to twenty-five thALam videos in YouTube
1. TIV thALams – Introduction : https://youtu.be/mWfkuOet5WU
2. Saptha thALams – Video 1 of 2 : https://youtu.be/KW7yCdyG-wM
3. Saptha thALams – Video 2 of 2 : https://youtu.be/VxsWe2VAhKU
4. Eka thALams in TIV – 1 of 2 : https://youtu.be/DHddOIzy3Q4
5. Eka thALams – 2 of 2 : https://youtu.be/W60vVWaMmn8
6. chAppu thALams in TIV – 1 of 2 : https://youtu.be/cokBBP3pVXw
7. chAppu thALams in TIV – 2 of 2 : https://youtu.be/iZ7oh2XK-gc
8. rUpaka thAlams in TIV : https://youtu.be/TMeDtFlJgEQ
9. jhambai thALams in TIV : https://youtu.be/vtJBe6M5Fw0
10. thriputa thALams in TIV : https://youtu.be/rV06OQYtQok
11. maTya, ada, Dhruva thALams : https://youtu.be/v0cFMD2aDVk
12. chanDam to thALams – Intro : https://youtu.be/D1lopvDarpU
13 chanDam to thALams – 7 aksharams : https://youtu.be/SqYQ-DqHLBA
14. chanDam to thALams – 8 akhsrams : https://youtu.be/4du66x2P7yM
15. chanDam to thALams – thisra nadai : https://youtu.be/wo3tae4TEms
16. chanDam to thALams – chathusra nadai : https://youtu.be/EqT9IYA1ee0
17. chanDam to thALams – khaNda nadai : https://youtu.be/sdttipL_abM
18. chanDam to thALams – misra nadai : https://youtu.be/EFd7McoUwpY
19. chanDam to anga thALam – 01 : https://youtu.be/KlDxcZtKDpg
20. chanDam to anga thALam – 02 : https://youtu.be/F2iZdLlLdMw
21. chanDam to anga thALam – 03 : https://youtu.be/RlgeF0yHfyU
22. chanDam to anga thALam – 04 : https://youtu.be/zZ6B-er96is
23. TIV – thALam – Final wrap-up – 01 : https://youtu.be/z047yzVs_eU
24. TIV – thALam – Final wrap-up – 02 : https://youtu.be/uqqfA7OJHxM
25. TIV – thALam – Final wrap-up – 03 : https://youtu.be/BoYmF9BEifo