Any type of Music, in general... is Null and Void, if it is not in strict confirmation to TALAM....or rythem, to put it in a simple way. In Carnatic Music, it is imperative that the students learn the concept of TALAM and KRIYA in detail, with special emphasis to the concept of KRIYAs, which is an embedded part of TALAM.
KRIYA can be defined as the integral part of each Talam comprising of the total number of Aksharas of any given Talam. So if a Talam like CHATUSRA JATHI TRIPUTA TALAM ( Poularly known as AaDI Talam ) has 8 Aksharas, then it has the SHASHABDA & NISHABDA KRIYAs in-built within the 8 aksharas.
So what are SHASHABDA & NISHABDA KRIYAs ? The Anga of the TALAM which comprises of the BEAT is the SHASHANDA KRIYA and the TURN of the PALM and the FINGURING parts together are called NISHABDA KRIYAs. The KRIYAs act as a guide to let the artist and the accompanists know, where in the cycle of the TALAM they are.
It is very important that a student is properly guided by the GURU right from the learning stages to keep in strict confirmity with the KRIYA aspect of different TALAs, to acquire a grip, good command and expertise over the TALAM.
K VENKATARAMANA