{{Short description|Term in Indian classical music}} {{Indian classical music}} {{Hinduism}}
'''''Alankara''''' ({{Langx|sa|अलंकार|translit=Alaṃkāra}}), also referred to as palta or '''''alankaram''''', is a concept in Indian classical music and literally means "ornament, decoration". An ''alankara'' is any pattern of musical decoration a musician or vocalist creates within or across tones, based on ancient musical theories or driven by personal creative choices, in a progression of ''svaras''. The term ''alankara'' is standard in Carnatic music, while the same concept is referred to as ''palta'' or ''alankara'' in Hindustani music.
The ancient and medieval music scholars of India state that there are unlimited creative possibilities available to a musician, but each scholar illustrated the concept with a set of ''alankara''. Datilla discussed 13 ''alankaras'', Bharata Muni presented 33, Sarngadeva described 63 ''alankaras'', while mid medieval scholars presented numerous more.<ref name="Rowell2015p163">{{cite book|author=Lewis Rowell|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h5_UCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA162|title=Music and Musical Thought in Early India|publisher=University of Chicago Press|year=2015|isbn=978-0-226-73034-9|pages=162–164}}</ref> The Indian music tradition classifies ''alankara'' as rational or irrational, wherein irrational ''alankara'' being those that cannot be reduced to a fixed scale degree pattern. The Indian theory of ''gamaka'' covers the group of irrational ''alankara''.<ref name="Rowell2015p163"/> The concept of ''alankara'' applies to both vocal and musical instrument performance.<ref name="Rowell2015p163"/>
Purandara Dasa, the father of modern Carnatic music, developed learning exercises for students based on ''alankara'' and ''svaravali'', where the student systematically repeats a certain set of patterns over three octave registers, across various ''ragas'' and ''talas''.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Bruno Nettl|author2=Ruth M. Stone|author3=James Porter|display-authors=et al|title=The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: South Asia : the Indian subcontinent |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZOlNv8MAXIEC |year=1998|isbn=978-0-8240-4946-1|page=216}}</ref>
==Types== {{Quote box |quote = <poem> A song without any ''alankara'', would be like a night without a moon, a river devoid of water, a vine without any flower, and a woman without any ornament. </poem> |source = —''Natya Shastra 29.75''<br>Bharata Muni (200 BCE-200 CE)<ref name="Rowell2015p163"/> |bgcolor=#FFE0BB |align = right }} Here are some common types of ''alankara'' used in classical music are * ''meend'', a technique of singing notes in a fluid manner with one note merging into the next - there are many different kinds of ''meend'' *''kan-swar'', grace notes - the use of grace-notes depends on the raga being performed *''andolan'', a gentle swing on specific notes, used selectively *''gamaka'', a heavy to-and-fro oscillation involving two or three distinct notes *''khatka/gitkari'', a rapid rendition of a cluster of notes distinctly yet lightly *''murki'', an even lighter and more subtle rendition of a cluster of notes
==Other definitions== ''Alankara'' also refers to: * a pattern on a svara group within a given octave, in ancient Indian music.<ref name="sim2007">{{Citation|author=Prof. P Sambamoorthy|title=South Indian Music - Vol I|page=51|year=2005|publication-place=Chennai, India|publisher=The Indian Music Publishing House}}</ref> * a type of exercise based on the 7 main talas and their variations.<ref name="sim2007" />
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [https://raag-hindustani.com/Embellishment.html Ornamentation in Indian Classical Music]
Category:Indian classical music Category:Carnatic music terminology Category:Hindustani music terminology