Tala Formats Explored in Kuchipudi

Kuchipudi is illustrated by Oopu or Ullasam (swing) which are almost always in Caturasra jāti. From the initial steps, jatis to nrityamshams in the repertoire are set to tisra, khanda, misra, and sankeerna jātis.

According to P Sangeetha Rao, musicologist associated with Dr. Vempati Chinna Satyam, Kuchipudi Yakṣagāna Bhāmakalāpam, Gollakalāpam, Usha Parinayam, Prahlada Rama Nātakams have adopted Carnatic rāgas and Tāla formats. Many traditional rāgas and tālas in vilambita speed must have been in vogue back in the days. But over time, many stalwarts like Voleti Venkateswarulu, Banda Kanakalingeswararo, Balantrapu Rajanikantha rao, Patrayani Sangeetha rao Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna composed new rāgas and tālas. They advocated innovation in tālas without compromising on the tradition.  Patrayani Sangeetha Rao used Khanda-eka, Caturasra-jhampe, Misra-jhampe, alongside, Adi, Roopakam etc. especially in the Yakṣagāna traditions. The trajectory of music in dance moved towards sophistication.

The Daruvus in theatrical forms are in ādi tālam, cāpus, jhampe and triputa. Many of the Sabdams and Bhama and Rukmini Daruvus have been set to Misracāpu and some anshams like Sivastakam are set to Khandacāpu.  

Over the years, there have been a lot of experimentation in using several intriguing rāgas and tālas especially in Kuchipudi dance dramas – Daruvus, Krithis, javalis etc. For example, in Kalyana Rukmini (dance drama choreographed by Dr. Vempati Chinna Satyam, a lot of Hindustani scales have been used. In Harivilasam ballet, Aamani Vacchi Vaale, composition is in Khanda gati is presented in Misra Jāthi Jhampe tālam in Madhyama Kaala but in practice it turned to Dhruva Kaala which makes it’s literary meter of Khanda gati to be converted to musical metre of Caturasram.

When we talk about cross rhythms, the most famous Hindola Raga Thillana, the anupallavi has 5 gatis in Caturasra jāthi ādi tālam. There are sequences where each of the types are featured (thrisram, misram, khandam, and sankeernam).

Most compositions are set to a specific tāḷa and begin on sama but interestingly, Kuchipudi is uniquely characterized by off-the-beat tāla.  Jhem Jhem tana (Pedda Vinayaka Kautuvam) amsham, choreographed by Dr. Vempati Chinna Satyam has off beat tāla in one of its many āvarthanams. There are many examples of such jathis and other nrityamshams.

Kautuvams are poetic describing specific features of the deity or sometimes creatures from nature. They are set to definitive tālas like the Simhanandani tāla of 128 beats that makes it the longest tāla. This is also found in the Sangita Ratnakara, although musician T.M. Krishna opines in his book “A Southern Music” that the tāla in practice may not be the tāla that is referred to in the text in modern times.

For a Kuchipudi dance practitioner, the knowledge of tāla is indispensable as the repertoire gives ample opportunity to explore various tālas.  

 

 

The four most commonly used Talas in Kuchipudi are Aadi Tala, Roopaka Tala, Misra Chapu and Khanda Chapu. Aadi Tala features the most in performances, we can see it being applied in some of the first choreographies we learn like Brahmanjali, Atana Jathiswaram etc., but also in other popular compositions such as Tyagaraja’s Pancharatna Kritis and Narayana Tirtha’s Tarangams etc.,

The next Tala that seems to feature the most in Misra Chapu, we can see it being applied to many unique compositions of Kuchipudi such as Pravesa daruvus, Sabdams such as Dasavathara sabdam and Mandooka sabdam etc., In general chapu thalas seem to find there application in Abhinaya dominant pieces and also Vilamba laya pieces like Padams.

Khanda chapu and Roopaka Tala also find application in Kuchipudi compositions though not as frequent as the other two Talas discussed above. We can see Roopakam being used in compositions such as Bhavayami Raghu Ramam, Padams like Darijuchuchunadi etc., There are some beautiful choreographies in Khanda chapu as well such as  Paluku Tenela Talli and Sivastakam. The Tala for Stotra literature for the most part seems to be dependent on the literary meter they are written in.

We also see some other usages with Talas such as using Talamalikas when Raagamalikas feature and usage of different Gatis such as usage of Tisra gati of Adi thalam for Ganesha pancharatnam etc.,

 

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