Tillana

A Tillana or thillana is a rhythmic piece in South Indian carnatic music that is generally performed at the end of a concert and widely used in classical Indian dance performances. It was popularised by M Balamuralikrishna, Lalgudi Jayaraman and some other musicians^[1][2][3] A Tillana uses tala-like phrases in the pallavi and anupallavi, and lyrics in the charanam.

The thillana is based on the tarana which was introduced by Amir Khusrau (1253-1325 CE).^[4]

Popular Compositions

By Lalgudi Jayaraman

• Behag Thillana
• Kadanakuthuhalam Thillana
• Mohanakalyani Thillana
• Khamas Thillana
• Mand Thillana
• Revathi Thillana
• Dwijavanthi Thillana

By M. Balamuralikrishna

• Brindavani Thillana
• Kathanakuthuhalam Thillana
• Kuntalavarali Thillana
• Garudadhwani Thillana
• Thaya Ragamalika Thillana (Kalyani Raga)

By other composers:

• Kalinga Narthana Thillana(Ragam: Gambhira Natta), Surutti Thillana, Sindhu Bhairavi Thillana and Puraneermai Pann Thilanna composed by Sri Oothukkadu Venkata Kavi
• Dhanashree Thillana composed by Maharaja Swathi Thirunal and tuned by Lalgudi Jayaraman and Bhupalam Thillana composed by Maharaja Swathi Thirunal
• Khamas Thillana composed by Patnam Subramania Iyer
• Kaapi Thillana, composed by Ganesh and Kumaresh Rajagopalan
• Basant Bahar Thillana, composed by Maharajapuram Santhanam
• Behag Thillana, composed by Veene Sheshanna
• Behag Thillana, composed by Abhishek Raghuram
• Dwijavanthi Thillana by Bharat Sundar