Tillana
तिल्लाना
Rhythmic syllables in raga and tala, near the close of Carnatic concerts and dance
The tillana (thillana) is a Carnatic composition of rhythmic syllables set to a raga and tala, sung near the end of a concert and danced near the close of a Bharatanatyam recital.
History & Evolution
Music Academy writers credit Veerabhadrayya, a musician at the Thanjavur court of Pratapasimha (reigned 1741 to 1765), with shaping the tillana as a distinct Carnatic form, and tillanas are said to have grown popular under his son Tulaja. Scholars trace its roots to the pata, the part of the medieval prabandha (an early composition type) set to instrumental rhythm syllables, to konnakol (rhythm recited aloud), and to jati passages in older kirtanas (devotional songs). Other writers hold that the form began in North India, from the tarana, and developed in the South. The origin remains debated.
Around 1802 to 1810 the Tanjore Quartet set the Bharatanatyam programme that placed the tillana as the pure-dance piece near its close. Swati Tirunal of Travancore (1813 to 1846 or 1847) composed music for dance in many forms, tillanas among them, and Patnam Subramania Iyer and Ramnad Srinivasa Iyengar wrote further tillanas later in the century. The tillana's settled place at the end of a concert follows the format credited to Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar in the 20th century.
- Mid-18th century
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The tillana takes shape at Thanjavur
An early tillana in raga Kalyani, sung in praise of Tulaja of Thanjavur and opening with the syllables tai tai, was used in dance recitals. Tulaja's father Pratapasimha had kept Veerabhadrayya, the musician credited with shaping the form, at his court. - Early 19th century
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Tanjore Quartet sets the dance programme
The Tanjore Quartet's Bharatanatyam programme makes the tillana the pure-dance piece near the close, with medium-tempo dance tillanas of closely woven svara and syllable passages. At Travancore, Swati Tirunal composes tillanas among his dance works. - 20th Century
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Concert close and new composers
The concert format credited to Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar settles the tillana near the end of a Carnatic concert. Lalgudi G. Jayaraman and M. Balamuralikrishna compose tillanas noted in their Sangeet Natak Akademi citations. - Late 20th century to present
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Varnam and tillana at the core
By the 1970s varnam and tillana formed the core of Bharatanatyam recitals at the Music Academy, and some dancers began opening with a tillana. New tillanas kept appearing through the 1980s, many by dance teachers and singers.
Technical Aspects
Rhythmic Syllables (Jatis)
A tillana runs mostly on jatis drawn from sollukattu, spoken rhythm syllables that map drum strokes, mixed with solfa-type syllables such as ta ka ta ri ki ta na ka. Drum syllables dominate in dance tillanas, though no one recites them aloud there, unlike in the alarippu, the opening dance item.
Sections and Sahitya
Some tillanas have all three sections of a South Indian composition, pallavi (opening), anupallavi (second section) and charanam (closing verse); others have two. The words praise a deity or the composer's patron, with the composer's signature, the mudra, in the charanam. A few set long Sanskrit texts, such as Maha Vaidyanatha Iyer's Gauri Nayaka in Kanada.
Tempo and Tala
Most tillanas move at madhyama kala (medium speed), and some are slow. Some use nadai changes, shifts in the beat's subdivision that create cross rhythms, and a few sit in rare talas, such as Ramnad Srinivasa Iyengar's tillana in Lakshmisa tala. In dance the tempo rises towards a final cadence, and the dancer has more freedom to vary movement than in the fixed lines of the jatisvaram.
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Tillanas in the CBSE syllabus
India's Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) sets out one published route into the tillana. Its Carnatic vocal syllabus gives Class XI varnams in two speeds and kritis, and Class XII adds tillanas beside padams, javalis and ragamalikas. The Class XII theory paper covers the lives of composers including Swati Tirunal, Patnam Subramania Iyer and Ramnad Srinivasa Iyengar, all three of whom also wrote tillanas.
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Jatis in Tala
A jati is a phrase of rhythmic syllables, and a tillana strings many of them against the tala. In performance a singer may take these phrases up to the fourth degree of speed. A 1985 Music Academy paper names clear articulation at that speed as the skill tillana practice trains in singers, and swift bowing and plucking as the skill it trains in violinists and veena players.
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Svara and jati passages
In a tillana with both anupallavi and charanam, the anupallavi runs on jatis, the rhythm syllables, alone, and the charanam mixes words with jati syllables such as ta ka ta ri ki ta na ka. With only pallavi and anupallavi, the anupallavi holds jatis, svaras (note names) and words together. Some tillanas add solkattu svara passages, svaras set among jatis, or chittasvara passages of composed notes.
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Composers and Ragas
Swati Tirunal of Travancore wrote a tillana in Dhanasri, and Patnam Subramania Iyer wrote tillanas in Khamas and Sindhu Bhairavi. A 1985 paper found at least twelve tillanas by Ramnad Srinivasa Iyengar in print. Veena Seshanna is credited with 17, and one Music Academy writer calls his Senjuruti tillana a classic. Texts include Tamil and Sanskrit: one Tamil tillana sets a verse of the Kamba Ramayana.
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Concert and Dance
A 1983 Music Academy study of concert patterns records the traditional etiquette: no alapana, the improvised raga prelude, before a tillana, and no kalpana svaras (improvised note passages) or niraval (improvised variations on a line of the text) within it. For Bharatanatyam, the singer repeats the pallavi or anupallavi while the dancer performs korvais, rhythmic dance cadences.
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Where can I learn to sing a Carnatic tillana online with a live teacher?
You can learn to sing a Carnatic tillana with KalaSudha online, live and one-to-one with a vetted teacher. It is built on jatis, phrases of rhythmic syllables, set to a raga, the melodic framework, with a short passage of words, the sahitya.
Your practice strings the jatis against the tala, the rhythmic cycle, and a singer may take them up to the fourth degree of speed. Beginners start at Foundation in our online academy, which records every lesson for practice. You can also train in person at the workshops and summer camps we hold where enough learners sign up.
Have more questions? Contact our support team and we'll be happy to help!