The taal or manjira (also spelled manjīrā or manjeera), jalra, karatala, kartal or gini is a pair of clash cymbals,[, originally published in 2000] The word taal comes from the Sanskrit word Tālà, which literally means a clap. It is a part of Indian music and culture, used in various traditional customs e.g. Bihu music, Harinaam etc. It is a type of Ghana vadya.
In Hindu religious contexts it is known as karatala (; kara "hand", "arm" and tāla "rhythm", "beat"), typically used to accompany devotional music such as bhajan and kirtan. They are commonly used by Hare Krishna devotees when performing harinam, but are ubiquitous to all Hindu devotional music. It is also called karatala or kartal (pronounced as “kartel”) in some contexts.
Types
There are many types of Taal, categorised by size, weight and appearance.
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Bortaal is the big size clash cymbal, Its weight approx. 1½−2 kg. The player who plays Bortaal is called in Assam as Gayan. Bortaal is a symbol of Assamese traditional culture. Sometimes, the players perform dance-music with both e.g. in Gayan-Bayan, Bortaal Nritya etc. Sometimes the player perform with only music e.g. in Harinaam, Dihanaam etc. The rhythmic high-pitched sound of the Bortaal makes the surroundings pure and sacred.
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Majutaal is medium size clash cymbal,
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Khutitaal or Xarutaal is small size clash cymbal.
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Ramtaal or Khoritaal are two wooden handled musical instruments, containing multiple pairs of small cymbals. It is generally known India as Karatalas.
Nepal
- See List of Nepali musical instruments
The instrument is played in Nepal as well, known as the
Jhyamta (Nepali: झ्याम्टा) (phonetic: Jhyāmṭā), a
Nepal traditional musical instrument. The
Kirat community uses this with
dhol (kirat)) in various cultural festivals such as
Sakela,
Chyabrung, Udhauli, Ubhauli and other social functions.
Tibet
In Tibetan culture, the
tingsha is a very similar instrument.
Uses
Manjiras are commonly played in folk and
devotional music. They are played in various religious events and ceremonies in India and especially in
bhajans. Manjiras are ancient musical instruments. Manjiras can be seen in many ancient temple pictures.
Marathi and Gujrati folk music
Manjiras have a significant importance in
and
Marathi language folk music. In
Maharashtra they are known as Taal. Initially Manjiras were played in
aarti. In
Gujarat and
Maharashtra, manjiras hold great importance and are played in
bhajan,
santvani and
dayro.
See also
-
List of Indian musical instruments
