A Tillana or thillana is a rhythmic piece in

Carnatic music Carnatic music, known as or in the South Indian languages, is a system of music commonly associated with South India, including the modern Indian states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, and Sri Lanka. It is o ...

that is generally performed at the end of a concert and widely used in classical indian dance performances. It was popularised by Dr. M Balamuralikrishna and some other musicians A Tillana uses tala-like phrases in the

pallavi A pallavi has multiple connotations in carnatic music. It is the first part of any formal composition (Krithi) which has three segments - Pallavi, Anupallavi and Charanam (which can be one or more). Pallavi is usually also an abbreviation of R ...

and anupallavi, and lyrics in the

charanam Charanam (meaning ''foot'') in Carnatic music (South Indian classical music) is usually the end section of a composition which is sung after the anupallavi. There may be multiple ''charanams'' in a composition which make up different stanzas, b ...

. The ''

thillana A Tillana or thillana is a rhythmic piece in Carnatic music that is generally performed at the end of a concert and widely used in classical indian dance performances. It was popularised by Dr. M Balamuralikrishna and some other musicians A Til ...

'' is based on the

tarana ''Tarana'' is a type of composition in Hindustani classical vocal music in which certain words (e.g. "odani", "todani", "tadeem" and "yalali") based on Persian and Arabic phonemes are rendered at a medium (''madhya laya'') or fast (''drut laya'' ...

which was introduced by

Amir Khusrau Abu'l Hasan Yamīn ud-Dīn Khusrau (1253–1325 AD), better known as Amīr Khusrau was an Indo-Persian Sufi singer, musician, poet and scholar who lived under the Delhi Sultanate. He is an iconic figure in the cultural history of the Indian sub ...

(1253-1325 CE).

Popular Compositions

* Kadanakuthuhalam Thillana composed by Dr.M. Balamuralikrishna (Ragam: Kadanakuthuhalam) * Kadanakuthuhalam Thillana composed by Lalgudi Jayaraman (Ragam: Kadanakuthuhalam) * Kalinga Narthana Thillana composed by Sri Oothukkadu Venkata Ravi (Ragam: Gambhira Natta) * Mohanakalyani Thillana composed by violinist Lalgudi Jayaraman (Ragam: Mohanakalyani) * Garudadhwani Thillana composed by Dr.M. Balamuralikrishna (Ragam: Garudadhwani) * Gita Dhuniku Thillana composed by Maharaja Swathi Thirunal (Ragam: Dhanashree) * Khamas Thillana composed by Pattanam Sri Subramania Iyer (Ragam: Khamas) * Khamas Thillana composed by Lalgudi Jayaraman (Ragam: Khamas) * Jaya Ragamalika Thillana composed by Dr.M. Balamuralikrishna (Ragam: Kalyani) * Dwijavanthi Thillana composed by Lalgudi Jayaraman (Ragam: Dwijavanthi) * Brindavani Thillana composed by Dr.M. Balamuralikrishna (Ragam: Brindavani) * Revathi Thillana composed by Lalgudi Jayaraman (Ragam: Revathi)

References

Carnatic music terminology Elements of a Bharatanatyam performance {{Carnatic-music-stub