Raga identification made easy!

Laya Lahiri : Sankeerna Nadai


Welcome back to the next episode of 'Laya Lahari'.  

In this episode, Suri explains the 'Sankeerna Nadai' in Adi Tala.  'Sankeernam' denotes 9, so the most common phrase used is 'Tha ka di mi tha ka tha ki ta' which is actually 4 + 5 matras or it can be 5 + 4 which would be then be 'tha ka tha ki ta tha ka di mi'. There are a variety of other phrases that can also be used in different combinations as demonstrated by Suri in both konnakol and in a sample mridangam clip. 

Having covered the various nadais in Adi tala, we will move to other interesting aspects of laya, do stay tuned!


Laya Lahiri section discusses the fundamentals of rhythm or laya, which forms an integral part of Carnatic music. Vidwan Thillaisthanam R. Suriyanarayanan explains the common and 'must-know' aspects of laya through his mridangam demonstrations. (Explanations in Tamil) This is by no means exhaustive but we hope this would be a good beginner's guide for rasikas to get started with percussion in Carnatic music.