The Cycle of Time...

A Circle Has No Beginning...


The oriental concept of time is cyclical unlike the occidental belief in the linearity of time.In a cultural sense, in the Indian subcontinent,  there is a need for reference to  history in order to understand the current time reference. The modern western mind views time as linear with a beginning and end (Concepts in Time ,Jeff A. Benner). 

The linearity of Time

Our concept of time being cyclical, it means that the beginning is also the end as reflected in the spiritual belief in human reincarnation. Death is but the beginning of the souls return to the next life.  Looking at it from a scientific perspective, both space and time exist as circles. Throughout the universe there are an infinite number of circles, some small and some large. The most obvious of these extremes are the orbits of atoms and solar systems. The repeating intervals of time, whether seconds or billions of years can also be represented by a circle.

Time and space cycles

The spiritual, scientific and social beliefs held by a culture are reflected in the music and the philosophy of music  developed in the culture . In western classical music, there is a beginning and end to musical compositions and the body of the music marks the progression from start to end. In Indian classical music, there is an underlying rhythmic time keeping on which is superimposed the start and end of a composition. This time-cycle is known as the Lehera or the Nagma, which is described by a certain sequence of musical notes.

An example of a 11 beat time cycle called 'Asthamangal' in numbers, tabla bols or rhythmic syllables and accompanying notes

Dhi      Na       |Dhi      Dhi      Na      | Dhi      Dhi      Na        |Tuna      Kata      Tirakita  |    Dhi        

    1       2        |3         4          5          | 6          7          8           |9             10         11           |       1         

    Sa     Ga     |Sa        Re       Ga        | Sa        Re       Ga         |SaRe      ReGa     GaMa     |       Sa        

The most well known taal-cycle or time-cycle is of course the Teentaal or 16 beat time cycle, which you can listen below

Listening to the Lehera is a very mediative experience for me. Just as each wave hits the shore, to recede again, the sam or the first beat of the taal-cycle  makes us feel that we are once more at the beginning. I feel as though the sam is a safe haven, akin to a home where we have safely reached. Listening to the Lehera and doing Tatkaar is an experience that can take us within ourselves and make us one with time and space. For a kathak dancer, becoming one with the Nagma is the first step towards understanding rhythm....