importance of regional cultural
patterns. One way that the Tamils retain
their culture is by preserving their
traditional calendar. Tamil is one of the
few regional languages in India with an
ancient, well-established literary
tradition. See also Tamil months, Tamil
Nadu, and Tamil language.
Takshaka
In Hindu mythology, a venomous ser-
pent-king from whose bite King
Parikshitis killed. After insulting a pow-
erful sage, Parikshit is cursed to die of a
snakebite within seven days. Parikshit
takes all possible precautions to avoid
his fate: He builds a house on a huge pil-
lar, has all things entering the house
carefully searched, and surrounds him-
self with physicians who can cure
snakebite. Six days pass without inci-
dent, but as the seventh day ends, peo-
ple begin to relax and bring in some fruit
to eat. Takshaka has concealed himself
as a tiny worm in one of the pieces of
fruit and, when the fruit is cut open,
changes into his real shape, bites the
king, and kills him.
Despite his fearsome role in this story,
an earlier story illustrates that Takshaka
is not entirely evil. Takshaka’s mother,
Kadru, bets her sister Vinatathat the
tail of a certain celestial horse is black,
whereas Vinata claims it is white; the sis-
ter agrees that the loser will become a
servant to the winner. Kadru asks her
children, the serpents, to hang from the
back of the horse to make it appear as if
it is black and thus takes unfair advan-
tage. Some of her children, including
Takshaka, refuse to take part in such
deceit, and Kadru curses them to be
killed by Janamjeya, King Parikshit’s
son. Takshaka manages to escape this
curse—one of the few times that this
happens in Hindu mythic stories—but
most of his siblings are not so lucky.Tala
In Indian music and dance, the most
general term for “rhythm,” either as
an accompaniment to music or dance
or played on a drum as a solo instru-
ment. The rhythmic systems in all
varieties of Indian music are extremely
rich and complex and require years of
study to master.TalaTeens drum and dance in Ghoom, Darjeeling. Tala, or rhythm, is a typical part of festival celebrations.