Porutham - Creating varied Rhythmic Cadences with Chart Templates

Abstract

Porutham is a Tamil word meaning ‘matching’. The word has varied meanings according to the context in which it is used in Tamil language. Porutham in Astrology means ‘match making between two astrological charts’ at the time of marriage. Porutham also means perfectly matched partners or friends. ‘Nalla Porutham’ is the phrase which means ‘Good Match’. It also means that it will be ideally suited for the particular object.
Musically ‘Poruthams’ can be used as part of various cadential forms like Korvai, short ending items like Muktayi, theermanam, arudi etc. This can also be used in ‘Jati Pallavis’, in the Pallavi portion of Ragam, Tanam, Pallavi and in Kritis where neravals are sung. Porutham is generally done as a rhythmic exercise, where Jatis are employed when a percussion artiste uses Poruthams and Swaras are used when a Vocalist/instrumentalist uses them.
This article also covers various examples covering porutham ideas for various kritis where neravals are popularly sung. Sample kritis have been taken from different Talas like Adi Tala, Rupaka Tala and Misra Chaapu Tala. Ragam-Tanam-Pallavis and Jati Pallavis have not been covered in this article, as we propose to cover them extensively in a separate article.