Eka tala is one of the sapta (seven) talas (beats) in Indian classical music.
Its cycle is of the form of a single laghu (Sanskrit prosody), so that there will be five forms by varying the number of beats in the cycle. For example, chatusra eka taala will have four beats, with the related action being a single beat with the palm and then three beats with the movement of the outer three fingers in one cycle. When the type of the laghu (number of beats) is not specified, eka tala is understood to be chaturasra eka (4 beats).
Jaathi - Tala | Symbol | No. of aksharams (beats) |
Tisra Eka | |3 | 3 |
Chatusra Eka | |4 | 4 |
Khanda Eka | |5 | 5 |
Misra Eka | |7 | 7 |
Sankeerna Eka | |9 | 9 |