A beat of a tal which is not counted and which can be recognized by the damped (closed) tabla bol-s used for it.

Literally meaning empty it is a beat or matra played with a dampened or closed sound. The importance of the khali is to make the vocalist or instrumentalist aware of the imminent sum or to help to ascertain where he is in a long tal or beat cycle. It is denoted by a '0' clearly marked on top of the beat or matra. There can only ever be one khali in a given tal.

(Turkmen) pile rug, related to the Turkish word for rug (Hali).

see under Tala.