Adi tala (Sanskrit: ''ādi tālà'' {{lang, sa, आदि ताळ, Kannada: ಆದಿ ತಾಳ, literally "primary rhythm" also spelled aadi taalam or adi talam) is the name of one of the most popular tala or rhythms used in

Carnatic Music Carnatic music, known as or in the Dravidian languages, South Indian languages, is a system of music commonly associated with South India, including the modern Indian states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, an ...

. Its full technical name according to the Carnatic Music's tala system is ''Chaturashra-naDe Chaturashra-jaati triputa taLa''.

Structure

This tala has eight

akshara Aksara (also ''akshara'', Devanagari अक्षर, IAST ''akṣara'') is a Sanskrit term translating to "imperishable, indestructible, fixed, immutable" (i.e. from अ, '' a-'' "not" and क्षर्, ''kṣar-'' "melt away, perish"). It h ...

s, each being 4 svaras long. Many kritis and around half of the varnams are set to this tala. Carnatic music Carnatic music terminology