''Vilambit'' (

Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

: ; also called ''vilambit laya'') is an introductory slow tempo, or ''laya'', between 10 and 40 beats per minute, used in the performance of a raga in

Hindustani classical music Hindustani classical music is the classical music of northern regions of the Indian subcontinent. It may also be called North Indian classical music or, in Hindustani, ''shastriya sangeet'' (). It is played in instruments like the violin, si ...

. For major ragas, the vilambit portion generally takes up two-thirds or more of the performance, and is followed by a short

drut ''Drut'' ( द्रुत; also called ''drut laya'') is the concluding section, in fast tempo (or ''laya''), between 160 and 320 beats per minute, of the performance of a vocal raga in Hindustani classical music. See also *Khyal *Vilambit *Ma ...

to conclude the performance. Vocalists use a slower definition of time than instrumentalists (Gottlieb 1977a:41).