Thiruppukazh Isai Vazhipadu (TIV)
The thALams for the songs in Thiruppukazh Isai Vazhipadu were set by Guruji Sri Raghavan as one of the ‘saptha thALams’ of Carnatic music or as ‘anga thALams’, a combination of two or several ‘saptha thALams’.
For example, he set the thALam for the song ‘kaiththala niRaikani’ as chathusra thriputai – chathusra nadai (commonly known as ADi thALam) and as a combination of two chathusra Ekams (2 x 4 aksharams) + thisra rUpakam (5 aksharams) + misra Ekam (7 aksharams) + misra chAppu (3.5 aksharams), with a total of 23.5 aksharam for the song ‘vaDana sarOruha’.
Saptha thALams
Before we get into a discussion of thALams in TIV, let us understand the ‘saptha thALams’ in use in Carnatic Music. The saptha thALams are made up of three components :
lagu notation : l
Drutham notation : O and
anuDrutham notation : U
There are five varieties of lagu : thisram, chathusram, khaNdam, misram and sangIrNam.
l-3 thisra lagu – 3 aksharams
l-4 chathusra lagu – 4 aksharams
l-5 khaNda lagu – 5 aksharams
l-7 misra lagu – 7 aksharams
l-9 sangIrNa lagu – 9 aksharams
U anuDrutham – 1 aksharam
O Drutham – 2 aksharams
There are seven thALams,
Ekam
rUpakam
jhambai
thriputai
maTyam
ada and
Dhruvam.
These are explained below.
With five lagus and seven thALams, we will have a total of 5 x 7 = 35 thALams. Each thALam could be put in thisra nadai, chathusra nadai, khaNda nadai, misra nadai and sangIrNa nadai, resulting in a total of 35 x 5 = 175 thALams in Carnatic music.
Eka thALam is made up of just the lagu : l
rUpaka thALam is mde up of Drutham + lagu : O + l
jhambai thALam is made up of lagu + anuDrutham + Drutham : l + U + O
thriputai thALam is made up of lagu + Drutham + Drutham : l + O + O
maTya thALam is made up of lagu + Drutham + lagu : l + O + l
ada thALam is made up of lagu + lagu + Drutham + Drutham : l + l + O + O
Dhruva thALam is composed of lagu + Drutham + lagu + lagu : l + O + l + l
| thisra | chathusra | khaNda | misra | sagIrNa | |
| Ekam l | 3 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 9 |
| rUpakam O + l | 2 + 3 = 5 | 2 + 4 = 6 | 2 + 5 = 7 | 2 + 7 = 9 | 2 + 9 = 11 |
| jhambai l + U + O | 3 + 1 + 2 = 6 | 4 + 1 + 2 = 7 | 5 + 1 + 2 = 8 | 7 + 1 + 2 = 10 | 9 + 1 + 2 = 12 |
| thriputai l + O + O | 3 + 2 + 2 = 7 | 4 + 2 + 2 = 8 | 5 + 2 + 2 = 9 | 7 + 2 + 2 = 11 | 9 + 2 + 2 = 13 |
| maTyam l + O + l | 3 + 2 + 3 = 8 | 4 + 2 + 4 =10 | 5 + 2 + 5 =12 | 7 + 2 + 7 = 16 | 9 + 2 + 9 = 20 |
| ada l + l + O + O | 3 + 3 + 2 + 2 = 10 | 4 + 4 + 2 + 2 = 12 | 5 + 5 + 2 + 2 = 14 | 7 + 7 + 2 + 2 = 18 | 9 + 9 + 2 + 2 = 22 |
| Dhruvam l + O + l + l | 3 + 2 + 3 + 3 = 11 | 4 + 2 + 4 + 4 = 14 | 5 + 2 + 5 + 5 = 17 | 7 + 2 + 7 + 7 = 23 | 9 + 2 + 9 + 9 = 29 |
In the above table, the aksharams are for chathusra nadai – 1- kaLai.
For 2- kaLai, the number of aksharam will be double and for 4- kaLai it will be four times. For example, chathusra thriputai – chathusra nadai will have 8 aksharams in 1 kaLai, 16 aksharams in 2 kaLai and 32 aksharams in 4 kaLai.
For thisra nadai, the aksharams should be multiplied by 3 in viLamba kAlam and by 1.5 in maDhyama kAlam. For example, chathusra thriputai in thisra nadai will have 8 x 3 = 24 aksharams in viLamba kAlam and 8 x 1.5 = 12 aksharams in maDhyama kAlam.
For khaNda nadai, the above numbers should be multiplied by 5 for viLamba kAlam and 2.5 for maDhyama kAlam. For example, chathusra thriputai in khaNda nadai will have 8 x 5 = 40 aksharams in viLamba kAlam and 8 x 2.5 = 20 aksharams in maDhyama kAlam.
For misra nadai, the above numbers should be multiplied by 7 in viLamba kAlam and 3.5 in maDhyama kAlam. For example, chathusra thriputai in misra nadai will have 8 x 7 = 56 aksharams in viLamba kAlam and 8 x 3.5 = 28 aksharams in maDhyama kAlam.
For sangIrNa nadai, the above numbers should be multiplied by 9 in viLamba kAlam and 4.5 in maDhyama kAlam. For example, chathusra thriputai in sangIrNa nadai will have 8 x 9 = 72 aksharams in viLamba kAlam and 8 x 4.5 = 36 aksharams in maDhyama kAlam.
In addition to the above, we have chAppu thALams.
thisram which is half of thisra Ekam, will have 11/2 aksharam,
khaNda chAppu which is half of khaNda Ekam will have 21/2 aksharams,
misra chAppu which is half of misra Ekam will have 31/2 aksharams and
sangIrNa chAppu which is half of sangIrNa Ekam will have 41/2 aksharams.
YouTube Video Clips
To get an understanding of the ‘saptha thALams’, please refer to these clips.
- General introduction about the thALams in TIV.
Link : https://youtu.be/mWfkuOet5WU
- Introduction of the Saptha thALams in Carnatic Music – Part 1 of 2
Link : https://youtu.be/KW7yCdyG-wM
- Introduction of the Saptha thALams in Carnatic Music – Part 2 of 2
Link : https://youtu.be/VxsWe2VAhKU