Pallavi, anupallavi and charanam: the three parts of a Carnatic song

A kriti is a composed song in Carnatic music

A kriti is the main composed song form of Carnatic music, the classical music of South India. It has words, a fixed raga (a melodic framework) and a fixed tala (a rhythmic cycle). Its named sections give you a way to follow the song as you listen.

• The pallavi is the opening section. It carries the main line of text and the melodic idea that returns during the song.
• The anupallavi is the second section. It develops the opening idea, usually moving into the upper part of the singer's range.
• The charanam is the concluding section and usually the longest. In many kritis, its closing lines lead back to the pallavi.

These three sections are a common shape, not a rule for every kriti. Some kritis have more than one charanam, while some leave out the anupallavi. Others add a chittaswaram, a passage of sung notes. A song can therefore have a different layout without stopping being a kriti.

The pallavi is the opening section that returns

The pallavi, the opening section, carries the song’s main line of text and its central melodic idea. Those words and that melody belong together: when the section returns, you hear both again. This makes the opening more than a starting point. It remains a reference through the performance.

The melody sits mostly in the middle of the singer’s range, rather than at the top. Listen to where the voice settles during these opening words. That middle range gives you something to compare with the higher movement that usually follows in the anupallavi, the second section.

The anupallavi develops the opening idea, then leads back to the pallavi. Later, the charanam, the concluding section, is also followed by the pallavi. So the opening works as a refrain, a section that comes back. Its words and melody help connect the other sections to the song’s beginning.

This repeated role helps explain why the pallavi is often the part you remember first. You meet it at the start, then hear it again after spending time with the other sections. Each return renews the main idea.

The anupallavi is the second section that develops the opening

After the opening comes the anupallavi, the second section that develops what you have just heard. The pallavi, the opening section, sits mostly in the middle of the singer's range. The anupallavi usually takes the voice higher, into the upper part of that range.

Listen for that upward movement as a change in direction, not the start of an unrelated song. The anupallavi develops the pallavi's idea rather than replacing it with a new one. You are hearing the opening idea carried further, with the voice usually reaching higher.

Its length gives you another point of comparison. The anupallavi is normally shorter than the charanam, the concluding section and usually the longest part. So the second section is not usually where you hear the song's longest stretch of composed material.

When the anupallavi ends, the singer returns to the pallavi. That return lets you hear the difference between developing the opening and bringing it back. The higher passage leads back to the main line, rather than taking its place as the recurring section.

The charanam is the concluding section and usually the longest

The charanam is the concluding section and usually the longest. It often begins lower in the singer's range, then moves through the middle. Listen for that lower beginning as a change of direction, rather than expecting the melody to keep climbing.

In many kritis, composed songs in Carnatic (South Indian classical) music, the charanam's last lines use the melody of the anupallavi. The anupallavi is the second section, which develops the opening idea. That familiar melody leads back to the pallavi, the opening section that acts as a refrain.

The words offer another clue. A mudra is the composer's signature word within the text, and it most often appears in the charanam. Tyagaraja, for example, used his own name to sign his kritis. The signature is part of the song's words, not a separate announcement.

Treat this melodic path as a common shape, not a rule for every kriti. Some kritis have more than one charanam, and some leave out the anupallavi. The concluding section does not always follow one identical route.

The usual order brings the pallavi back twice

Those returns give you a way to follow a kriti, a composed song form in Carnatic (South Indian classical) music. The usual sequence is pallavi, anupallavi, pallavi, charanam, pallavi. The opening comes back twice, once after the second section and once after the concluding section.

• Pallavi: the opening section introduces the main words and melodic idea.
• Anupallavi: the second section develops that idea, usually moving into the singer's upper range.
• Pallavi: the opening returns, giving you the same main line to recognise.
• Charanam: the concluding section, usually the longest, often begins lower and moves through the middle range.
• Pallavi: the opening returns again after the charanam.

Keep this pattern as a listening guide, not a rule for every kriti. Some have more than one charanam, and some leave out the anupallavi. Others include a chittaswaram, a passage of sung notes. Those possibilities are why the three section names describe a common shape, rather than a fixed number of sections every song must contain.

South Indian film songs use the same section names

In a Malayalam or Tamil film song, the first sung stanza is called the pallavi, the returning hook. It comes back after each verse, giving you a familiar melody to recognise. Telugu and Kannada film music use these section names too. The words describe parts of the song, not its genre.

Each verse is called a charanam. So, in a film song, listen for the contrast between the returning pallavi and the verses between its appearances. The pallavi is the hook you hear again, while charanam is the name for each verse. That distinction gives you a way to follow the song without labelling every phrase.

Anupallavi is a less consistent label here: some film songs use it for the second half of the hook. In that usage, it names part of the hook rather than a verse. Do not expect every film song to have a separately labelled anupallavi. Start with the pallavi and charanams, then consider that extra label.

These shared names do not make film songs Carnatic music, the South Indian classical tradition. The vocabulary travelled with composers and singers who trained in that tradition. What carries across is a way of naming the returning hook and verses, not a claim that the musical forms are identical.

Listen for the first stanza and count its returns

Try this with Gayatri Asokan’s cover of “Oru Mukham Mathram”, a Malayalam film song from Etho Oru Swapnam. Use the first sung stanza as your reference point. This is the pallavi, the opening section that returns as the song’s hook. You are following film-song sections here, not listening to a Carnatic kriti.

• At the opening, listen through the whole first stanza. Give yourself that much time to recognise the passage you will be waiting to hear again.
• When a verse begins, notice its different melodic starting point. Each verse is a charanam, and its opening usually sits lower than the pallavi’s.
• When the pallavi returns, make a mark. Then listen for the next charanam’s beginning rather than trying to predict how many returns the recording will contain.