Matrik Chhand
Quick answer: Matrik chhand made simple: how to count matras, the doha, chaupai, rola and kundaliya families, and the matrik vs varnik difference Hindi exams ask about.
A matrik chhand is a metre measured in matras, the beats of time a line takes to speak. A light syllable, laghu, counts as one matra; a heavy syllable, guru, counts as two. The form fixes the total per line or per charan, and within that total the poet may mix lights and heavies freely, which is why matrik metres feel supple and song-like where syllable-counted metres feel carved. The doha, the chaupai, the rola and the kundaliya all belong to this family.
This is the metre family of the poetry most Hindi speakers carry in their heads. Kabir's couplets, Rahim's worldly wisdom, the chaupais of the Ramcharitmanas, the Hanuman Chalisa recited in millions of homes: all matrik. Understanding how the counting works turns these familiar lines from memorised music into legible craft, and for literature students it is the single most examined topic in Hindi prosody.
What a Matra Actually Measures
A matra is a unit of duration, roughly the time needed to utter one short vowel. Say 'ka' and you have spent one matra; say 'kaa' and you have spent two. The system descends directly from Sanskrit chandas, where the laghu and guru distinction was worked out over two thousand years ago, but Hindi made time-counting the backbone of its most loved forms.
Because only the total time matters, two light syllables can stand where one heavy stood, and the line still scans. That substitution freedom is the secret of the doha's conversational ease. It lets a poet say things plainly, in the words the thought actually wants, rather than forcing vocabulary through a fixed light-heavy template. It is also why matrik verse sits so naturally in the mouth of a singer.
The Counting Rules, One by One
Scanning a line is mechanical once you know the rules. Work syllable by syllable and apply these:
A Worked Example
Take the simple phrase 'sapna sach ho gaya', the dream came true. Scan it syllable by syllable: sa is light, 1; pa is light, 1; naa is heavy, 2; in 'sach' both units are light, 1 and 1; ho is heavy, 2; ga is light, 1; yaa is heavy, 2. Add them up and the total comes to eleven matras, exactly the length of a doha's second charan.
That small exercise shows the whole method: no mystery, just patient bookkeeping. It also shows why practice matters. The conjunct rule catches nearly everyone at first, because the weight lands on the syllable before the cluster, not on the cluster itself. Scan twenty everyday phrases this way and the counting becomes as automatic as reading.
The Doha and Its Relatives
The doha is the family's crown: two lines, each of 13 plus 11 matras, with the pause after the thirteenth. Kabir, Rahim, Bihari and Tulsidas all trusted their sharpest thinking to it. Reverse the halves, 11 plus 13, and you have the sortha. Stretch to four charans of 24 matras split 11 plus 13 and you have the rola.
The tradition then builds compound forms the way masons build arches. A kundaliya sets a doha on top of a rola, repeats the doha's closing phrase to open the rola, and ends the whole six-line stanza with the word it began with, coiling like the snake its name suggests; Giridhar Kaviray made the form proverbial. The chhappay joins four rola lines with two of ullala, and was a favourite for praise poetry, including Bhushan's heroic stanzas.
Chaupai: Sixteen Beats That Carried an Epic
The chaupai runs four charans of 16 matras each, rhymed in pairs, and it is arguably the most consequential metre in Hindi literature, because Tulsidas chose it as the narrative engine of the Ramcharitmanas, pausing every few chaupais to seal the passage with a doha. The alternation gives the epic its unmistakable breathing rhythm: story, story, story, summary.
The Hanuman Chalisa uses the same machinery, forty chaupais framed by dohas, which is one reason it memorises so easily. Sixteen beats sit comfortably in a single breath, and the paired rhymes click shut like well-made boxes. Any poet who wants to learn narrative pacing could do worse than study how Tulsidas varies pace inside a fixed sixteen-beat frame.
Matrik vs Varnik, Settled in One Test
Exams keep asking the difference, so keep the test handy: swap one heavy syllable in a line for two lights. If the form's definition is still satisfied, because the time total is unchanged, the chhand is matrik. If the swap breaks the definition by altering the syllable count, the chhand is varnik. Doha passes the swap test; ghanakshari fails it.
For writers rather than examinees, the practical difference is temperament. Matrik forms reward the ear and forgive the vocabulary; varnik forms reward architecture and discipline. Many poets drill both, and a doha is a wonderfully honest place to test compression: Writory's monthly contest, where judges score structure alongside emotion and language, has seen couplet-tight entries outscore far longer poems.
Training the Ear
Do not learn matrik chhand from tables alone. Take one doha you love and recite it while tapping the beats on a table, one tap per matra, thirteen then eleven. Do this for a week and the pattern installs itself below thought, the way a tabla student internalises a tala. After that, wrong lines will feel wrong before you can say why.
Then write daily inside one form for a month, doha or chaupai, about anything: bus rides, onions, an argument you lost. The subject barely matters. What matters is making the counting unconscious, so that when a real poem arrives, the metre serves the feeling instead of interrupting it.
What poets can take from this
- Tap one beat per matra as you scan; the table-top is a better teacher than the textbook.
- Watch the conjunct rule: the syllable before a cluster becomes heavy, and it catches everyone at first.
- Memorise the doha as 13 plus 11 twice, and derive sortha and rola from it instead of learning them cold.
- Check totals charan by charan, never for the whole verse at once.
- When a line will not fit, swap a heavy word for two-light synonyms rather than cutting the thought.
- Read your scanned lines aloud at speaking pace; if you must rush a syllable, your count is probably wrong.
Try it yourself
Write three dohas about one ordinary object in your kitchen, keeping strictly to 13 plus 11 matras per line. Make the first doha describe it, the second complain to it, and the third let it answer back. Scan every line and mark the totals in the margin.
Questions
What is the difference between matrik chhand and varnik chhand?
A matrik chhand fixes the number of matras, time beats, per line, counting light syllables as one and heavy as two. A varnik chhand fixes the number of varnas, syllable blocks, counting each once regardless of weight. Doha and chaupai are matrik; ghanakshari and savaiya are varnik.
How many matras are in a doha?
Each line of a doha carries 24 matras, divided 13 plus 11 with the pause after the thirteenth. The complete doha has two such lines, 48 matras in all, and the second charan of each line conventionally ends with a heavy-light pattern.
Which metre is the Ramcharitmanas written in?
Chiefly in chaupai, a matrik chhand of four charans of 16 matras each, with dohas and sorthas placed at intervals to close each run of narration. Tulsidas also uses other chhands in places, but the chaupai-doha alternation is the epic's backbone.
By the Writory editorial team, reviewed by working poets. Updated September 2026.
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