Harigitika Chhand
Quick answer: Harigitika Chhand is a musical Hindi metre of twenty eight matras a line. Learn its pause, its rising close, and how to write one that sings aloud.
Harigitika Chhand is one of the most singable metres in Hindi prosody, a matrik chhand built on twenty eight matras in every line. Matrik means you count instars, the weight of syllables, rather than fixed feet. Each line carries a pause, a yati, after the sixteenth matra, and it closes on a light beat then a heavy one. That closing lift is what gives the metre its devotional swing, the reason poets reached for it whenever verse was meant to be chanted aloud.
You will meet it most often in stuti and bhajan, where the words needed to ride a tune. If you have ever sung a Ram or Krishna praise that seemed to rock gently on its own rhythm, there is a fair chance Harigitika was underneath. Learn its arithmetic once and you can write lines that a listener will hum before they can explain them.
The poem
श्री राम चन्द्र कृपालु भजु मन हरण भव भय दारुणम्।
नव कंज लोचन कंज मुख कर कंज पद कंजारुणम्॥
Tulsidas, 'Shri Ramchandra Kripalu' (Ram Stuti), public domain
Counting the twenty eight matras
A matra is a unit of duration. A short vowel, laghu, counts as one; a long vowel, or a syllable closed by a conjunct or anusvara, guru, counts as two. To scan a line of Harigitika you add these values across the whole charan until they total twenty eight. Beginners often miscount conjuncts, so read slowly and mark each syllable before you trust the sum.
The pause and the closing beat
The yati falls after sixteen matras, splitting the line sixteen and twelve. Read the pause aloud; it is not decorative but structural, and a good Harigitika breathes there. The line then ends on laghu followed by guru, a short beat pushing into a long one. This small rise is the metre's signature and the source of its momentum.
A Bhakti touchstone
Tulsidas gave the metre its most quoted life. His praise of Rama, opening 'Shri Ramchandra Kripalu bhaju man', is a textbook Harigitika, each line landing its twenty eight matras and its rising close. Sung across four centuries, it shows how the metre can carry a long chain of images without ever feeling crowded.
Writing your own
Start by drafting a line of ordinary length, then scan it and adjust your word choices until you reach twenty eight matras with a clean break at sixteen. Keep a concrete noun or verb near the pause so the ear has something to hold. Aim for the laghu-guru ending naturally rather than forcing it, and read every draft out loud, because this metre lives in the mouth, not on the page. When a Harigitika of yours finally sings, Writory's monthly contest, open from the 1st to the 25th with results on the 30th and a score for every entrant, is a fair place to test it.
What poets can take from this
- Mark every syllable as laghu or guru before adding, since one missed conjunct throws the whole count.
- Speak the yati at the sixteenth matra out loud so your line breathes where the metre expects.
- Place a strong image or verb just before the pause to anchor the listener.
- Let each line settle on a light then heavy beat instead of trailing off on a long vowel.
- Test a finished stanza by trying to sing it; if it resists a tune, your counting has slipped.
Try it yourself
Write a four line Harigitika of twenty eight matras a line in praise of a river at dawn, keeping the pause at the sixteenth matra and ending each line on a light beat that pushes into a heavy one.
Questions
How is Harigitika different from a doha?
A doha is a couplet whose lines split into thirteen and eleven matras, built for pithy statement. Harigitika runs twenty eight matras a line with a sixteen and twelve pause and a musical rising close, so it is made for song rather than aphorism.
How many matras must each line have?
Exactly twenty eight, counted as durational units where short syllables score one and long or conjunct-closed syllables score two. The yati sits after the sixteenth matra, and the line ends on a laghu followed by a guru.
Is Harigitika only for devotional verse?
It grew up in stuti and bhajan, so it carries a devotional colour, but nothing stops you using its swing for nature, praise, or narrative. Maithili Sharan Gupt, among others, carried it well beyond temple poetry.
By the Writory editorial team, reviewed by working poets. Updated September 2026.
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