Dhamar is one of the talas used in

Hindustani classical music Hindustani classical music is the Indian classical music, classical music of the Indian subcontinent's northern regions. It may also be called North Indian classical music or ''Uttar Bhartiya shastriya sangeet''. The term ''shastriya sangeet'' ...

from the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

. It is associated with the

dhrupad Dhrupad is a genre in Hindustani classical music from the Indian subcontinent. It is the oldest known style of major vocal styles associated with Hindustani classical music (for example in the Haveli Sangeet of Pushtimarg Sampradaya), and is als ...

style and typically played on the pakhawaj and also tabla. Dhamar taal has 14 beats (''matra''s) grouped asymmetrically into a 5-2-3-4 pattern. A song in

style set to dhamar tala is also called a dhamar. The text of a dhamar concerns the antics of

Krishna Krishna (; Sanskrit language, Sanskrit: कृष्ण, ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God (Hinduism), Supreme God in his own right. He is the god of protection, c ...

teasing the milkmaids during the ''

Holi Holi () is a major Hindu festival celebrated as the Festival of Colours, Love and Spring.The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) p. 874 "Holi /'həʊli:/ noun a Hindu spring festival ...".Yudit Greenberg, Encyclopedia of Love in World ...

'' (''hori'') Spring Festival of colours. It is considered a relatively light, gentle, and romantic musical form. The ''theka'' or syllabic pattern of dhamar tala is:

1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9    10   11   12   13  14
क    ध्धि   ट    धि   ट    धा    ऽ    ग    त्ति  ट    ति   ट    ता   ऽ
ka   ddhi Ta   dhi  Ta  dhaa  -    Ga   Ti   Ta   Ti   Ta   taa  -

In counting out the beat, beats 1, 6, and 11 are clapped (''tali''), and beat 8 is indicated by a wave of the hand (''khali''): (1) Clap 2 3 4 5 , (1) Clap 2 , (1) Wave 2 3 , (1) Clap 2 3 4 , ,

References

Indian styles of music Hindustani talas Hindustani music genres Hindustani music terminology {{India-music-stub