Dhatu Varishais: These are zigzag sequences that increase the students' overall command of notes. Alankarams: These are multi-tala sequences composed in the 35 talas. But usually 7 of these are selected and taught to the students. Students should be taught to render all these exercises in at least 3-4 speeds.
Today, when it says a song is in Desadi, the tala that is rendered is Adi Tala with the eduppu 1.5 units after samam. Tyagaraja and his lineage of disciples have composed many songs in Desadi tala.
Thus the 7 talams in combination with the 5 jaathis gives 35 talas in Carnatic music. Among these, the Chatusra Jaathi Triputa (Adi), Rupakam, Kanda Chapu, Misra Chapu are the most widely used talam. All the 7 talas in one of the jaathi is taught in the preliminary exercise of "Alankaram". These talas are called desi talas.Adi Tala (or Adi Talam) is one of the most popular talas or rhythms used in Carnatic (South Indian Classical) music. In Sanskrit (आदि ताल), it literally means "primary rhythm". It is an 8 beat pattern, where this pattern repeats over and over for the duration of the composition.