Over the past two hundred years, rhythm, which is the very backbone of Indian music, has developed into one of the most elaborate and intricate systems of any music.  It has fascinated and sometimes confused not only the trained ears of western musicians, but also the rhythmically trained ears of musicians from the Middle East and Far East countries.  In the use of innumerable rhythmic patterns and time measures,

both simple and complex, Indian rhythm, or tāla as it is called is without parallel.  The rhythms in the music of most countries constitute but a fraction of those used in India. The word tāla is believed to have derived from two sources.  One is from the word 'tāla' which in Sanskrit literally means 'the palm of the hand'.  The other is of the dissection of the word into the two syllables 'ta' and 'la'.  The syllable 'ta' stems from the word 'tāndava', the cosmic dance of Shiva, who is one of the Gods of the Hindu trinity.  He is also known as 'Shivantaraj' (Shiva, the lord of dance).  The other syllable, 'la' stems from the word 'lassya', the dance of the Goddess Parvati, the wife of Shiva.  

Indian 'tāla' or rhythm is guided mainly by the rules governing the pattern of the tāla.  This rhythmic pattern which is composed of mātras (r beats), 'vibhagas' (or bars) and 'avarta' (the rhythmic cycle), presents itself in three distinct tempos. 'Laya' is the word used for tempo.  There are three varieties of 'laya' or tempo in India.  'Vilambit-laya' (or slow tempo), 'Madhya-laya' (medium tempo) and 'Dhrut-laya' (fast tempo).  Madhya-laya is twice as fast as Vilambit-laya and Dhrut-laya is twice as fast as Madhya-laya.