A Tillana or thillana is a rhythmic piece in
Carnatic music
Carnatic music, known as or in the 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, and Sri Lanka. It is ...
that is generally performed at the end of a concert and widely used in
classical indian dance performances. It was popularised by Dr.
M Balamuralikrishna and some other musicians A Tillana uses tala-like phrases in the
pallavi
A pallavi has multiple connotations in carnatic music. It is the first part of any formal composition (Krithi) which has three segments - Pallavi, Anupallavi and Charanam (which can be one or more). Pallavi is usually also an abbreviation of R ...
and
anupallavi, and lyrics in the
charanam
Charanam (meaning ''foot'') in Carnatic music (South Indian classical music) is usually the end section of a composition which is sung after the anupallavi.
There may be multiple ''charanams'' in a composition which make up different stanzas, bu ...
.
The ''
thillana'' is based on the
tarana
''Tarana'' is a type of composition in Hindustani classical vocal music in which certain words (e.g. "odani", "todani", "tadeem" and "yalali") based on Persian and Arabic phonemes are rendered at a medium (''madhya laya'') or fast (''drut laya'' ...
which was introduced by
Amir Khusrau (1253-1325 CE).
Popular Compositions
* Kadanakuthuhalam Thillana composed by Dr.M. Balamuralikrishna (Ragam: Kadanakuthuhalam)
* Kadanakuthuhalam Thillana composed by Lalgudi Jayaraman (Ragam: Kadanakuthuhalam)
* Kalinga Narthana Thillana composed by Sri Oothukkadu Venkata Ravi (Ragam: Gambhira Natta)
* Mohanakalyani Thillana composed by violinist Lalgudi Jayaraman (Ragam: Mohanakalyani)
* Garudadhwani Thillana composed by Dr.M. Balamuralikrishna (Ragam: Garudadhwani)
* Gita Dhuniku Thillana composed by Maharaja Swathi Thirunal (Ragam: Dhanashree)
* Khamas Thillana composed by Pattanam Sri Subramania Iyer (Ragam: Khamas)
* Khamas Thillana composed by Lalgudi Jayaraman (Ragam: Khamas)
* Jaya Ragamalika Thillana composed by Dr.M. Balamuralikrishna (Ragam: Kalyani)
* Dwijavanthi Thillana composed by Lalgudi Jayaraman (Ragam: Dwijavanthi)
* Brindavani Thillana composed by Dr.M. Balamuralikrishna (Ragam: Brindavani)
* Revathi Thillana composed by Lalgudi Jayaraman (Ragam: Revathi)
References
Carnatic music terminology
Elements of a Bharatanatyam performance
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