One of the most unusual aspects of the tāla to the westerner is that the 'avarta' (or rhythmic cycle) begins and ends on the first beat.  Thus if one has a bar in 4/4 time with beats 1, 2, 3, 4, the rhythmic cycle will finish on 1, or the first beat of the next bar, like this: 1, 2, 3, 4, 1..  The tāla is one of the unique features of Indian music because of its complexity and flexibility within a framework of the set beats of a given rhythmic cycle.

There are approximately eighteen to twenty tālas currently used in India, although in theory, there are a hundred tālas or rhythms, ranging from four to a hundred beats in each rhythmic cycle.  But, like the shrutis, or micro-intervals, these elaborate patterns, which have been worked out theoretically, might look reasonable on paper, but in practice do not work, so the practical musician limits himself to a restricted number of rhythms which he knows can be applied in the context of Indian music.

Since the word 'tāla' in Sanskrit means literally 'the palm of the hand' or 'the clapping of hands', it is not surprising that Indian music has developed certain hand movements to indicate the strong and weak beats of the rhythm. For instance, the strong or main beat of any tāla is called the 'sam', and it is emphasised by a loud clap of the hands.  All other important beats after the 'sam' are emphasised by a softer handclap and are called 'tāli'.  All unstressed beats are indicated with a wave of the hand, and are called 'khāli'.  The two most popular drums of India, which are used to accompany and provide the life-blood or rhythmic backbone to the melodic line, are the 'Mridanga' of South India and the 'Tablā' of North India