padam

poetry
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Key People:
Swati Tirunal
Related Topics:
poetry
Karnatak music

padam, love poem in Karnatak (Carnatic) music. A padam is slow in tempo and grave in import, and it is usually treated as allegorical: the yearning of the nayika (heroine) is interpreted as the soul’s longing for the nayaka (hero). The best-regarded padams were written in Sanskrit and Telugu by Jayadeva (12th century) and Kshetrayya (17th century). Padams are also an important part of a bharata natyam (one of India’s major classical dance forms) recital.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Kara Rogers.