Talam

Talam is the system of rhythmic cycles that organizes Carnatic music, the classical tradition of South India. Built from repeating units of counts grouped into component limbs and counted in cycles such as the seven principal suladi talas, it governs how compositions are set, how improvisation is paced, and how percussionists mark time with hand gestures and strokes. Its most widely used cycle, adi talam, frames the majority of the concert repertory, while rarer cycles display the tradition's mathematical range. Talam is the Carnatic counterpart of the Hindustani tala system, developed within the same broad theory of Indian rhythm but maintained as a distinct practice.