The South Indian Talam System has primarily Seven Talams. These are as follows:
- Ada Talam
- Dhruva Talam
- Eka Talam
- Jumpa Talam
- Matya Talam
- Rupaka Talam
- Triputa
All of these talams consist of different parts or angas, which can be a few or all combinations of Laghu, Dhrutam and Anudhrutam.
The Laghu is expressed with a clap and a few beats. It can vary according to the jati of the talam. Hence, it can consist of 4 beats( chatusra jaati), 3 beats( Tisra Jaati), 7 beats( Misra Jaati), 5 beats( Khanda Jaati) or 9 beats( Sangeerna Jaati). The symbol for Laghu is 1.
The Dhrutam is expressed by a clap and a wave. It always has 2 beats. Its symbol is 0.
The Anudhrutam is expressed by a single clap. It always has 1 beat. Its symbol is U
Most of the Talams have the laghu and anudhrutams, the number of repetitions may vary.
The only talam which has an anudhrutam is the Jumpa talam. Eka Talam is the only talam which has no Dhrutam.
Based on the symbols, the 7 talams can be symbolically represented as the following:
- Ada Talam: 1100
- Dhruva Talam : 1011
- Eka Talam: 1
- Jumpa: 1U0
- Matya: 101
- Rupaka Talam:01
- Triputa talam: 100
Now, if we mathematically analyse these Talams, the ones which shall have only eight Aksharakalas or matras or beats will be the following:
1. Jumpa Talam, in Khanda jaati: Its symbol is 1U0= 5+1+2=8 beats( 1 laghu of 5 beats, 1 anudhrutam and 1 dhrutam)
In Tala lipi, it can be shown as below:
S R G S R l G l M . ll
R G M R G l M l P . ll
G M P G M l P l D . ll
M P D M P l D l N . ll
P D N P D l N l S . ll
2. Matya talam , Tisra Jaati: Its symbol is 101= 3+2+3=8 beats ( 1 Laghu of 3 beats, 1 dhrutam and 1 more laghu of 4 beats)
In talalipi, it can be written as below:
S R G l S R l S R G ll
R G M l R G l R G M ll
G M P l G M l G M P ll
M P D l M P l M P D ll
P D N l P D l P D N ll
D N S l D N l D N S ll
3. Triputa Talam, Chatusra Jati: Its symbol is 100=4+2+2= 8 beats( 1 Laghu of 4 beats + 2 Dhrutams)
In Talalipi, it can be written as shown below:
S R S R l S R l G M ll
R G R G l R G l M P ll
G M G M l G M l P D ll
M P M P l M P l D N ll
P D P D l P D l N S ll