South Indian Music

South Indian music, Carnatic music as it is called, differs from the Hindustani music in its stricter adherence to structure, thereby shifting the emphasis away from improvisation within that structure. The musicians of the South adhere very firmly to their composition and even more firmly to the taal cycle. Ragas in the South mostly have Sanskrit names, unlike in the North, where their names often come from specific regions or from the dialects of regions.

A certain rigidity marks recitals of Carnatic Music, and bhakti or devotion are its mainstays. Carnatic Music is therefore deeply spiritual. It was blessed with a plethora of greatly devoted composers and musicians. The literary content of the kritis, or songs, are in the form of offerings. The immortal Trinity of Carnatic music is Thyagaraja, Shyama Sastry, and Dikshitar, whose compositions are widely sung. Every great musician maintains the purity of the original structure of these compositions, but embellishes them with ornamentation peculiar to his skill or his instrument.

The flute, the violin, the veena, the nadaswaram and the gottuvadyam are among the most well known South Indian instruments. The mridangam, ghatam and ganjira are the most loved and widely heard percussion instruments.