Tala means cyclic rhythms of beats. According to some authors, it is derived from ‘ta’ (referring to siva’s tandava aspect) and ‘la’ (referring to pallavi lasya). The union of these two or of the right and left hands produce tala.

The smallest unit measured in tala is one akshara kala.

There are mainly three angas of Tala:

1. Anudrutam: It has one akshara kala. Represented by a clap only. Its symbol is U.
2. Dhrutam: It has two akshara kalas. Represented by a clap and a wave. Its symbol is 0.
3. Laghu: It is represented by a clap and a few counts on the fingers beginning with the little finger. Its symbol is 1.

The laghu varies according to the jaatis of tala, namely, chatusra (4 beats), tisra (3 beats), Misram (7 beats), khandam (5 beats) and sangeernam (9 beats).

The seven basic Talams are as follows:

1. Triputa – 100
2. Dhruva – 1011
3. Matya – 101
4. Rupaka – 01
5. Jhampa – 1U0
6. Eka – 1
7. Ada – 1100

Each of these talams can be further divided into 5 types by changing the jaatis of the laghu. Hence , this format creates 35 Different talams. These are shown as follows in the form of a table:

This explains in detail the Karnatic Tala System.