Mātrika metre
Mātrika metre is a quantitative system of poetic metre in Indo-Aryan languages. The unit of measurement is the "mātrā" or 'beat', from which it takes its name. A short vowel or a pause is counted as one "mātrā", and long vowels, diphthongs, or a short vowel followed by a consonant cluster counts as two "mātrās". In recitation, however, 'long vowels may be pronounced as short, or short as long, in order to fit the words into the desired metre. For this reason, the "mātrā" count does not always correspond exactly to the written vowel arrangement.' Different "mātrika  metres have different rules determining caesurae; most require a specific pattern of rhyme. The most popular of these metres in Hindi are the chaupāī" (sixteen "mātrās"), the "chaupaī" (fifteen "mātrās"), and the "dohā" (thirteen "mātrās" in the first and third feet and eleven, along with end-rhyme in the second and fourth).