In the Indian Classical music and in raga sangeet there are various types of Alankaras. Out of all types there are ten special types of alankars which are widely known.

Meend:
In a string instrument when a note is struck and the string is pulled travesely across or outward from the fret to obtain a high note or many higher notes from a single stroke, then it is known as Meend. This particular definition is applicable to Surbahar, Sitar, Veenas and other types of string instruments. However, now this term, Meend has a wider meaning and implication. It is mainly understood as a glide from one note to another, not only in veena, sitar or other such fretted instruments, but also for other instrumental music as well.

There are different types of meends which form the single most essential component in raga sangeet and also in other Indian classical forms. Soonth and Ghaseet also belong to the Meend family. Overall, it can be said that Meend is a difficult component of raga sangeet. Perfect rendition of meend actually depends on the knowledge of kan-swars of ragas, speed of meends, accuracy of start and end of swars and the accent of intermediate swars.

Kan:
In order to expand the reach of shrutis in Indian music, the swars are used in raga sangeet in dynamic forms and are rarely in staccato, except of course in case of some instruments. Each note has a linkage with its succeeding and preceding notes. These linking notes are called grace notes or Kan-swars. The term kan-swar is never fully pronounced and is played or sung in a very subtle manner. The kan-swars are actually very important for perfect rendition of raga. As a matter of fact, two or three ragas sharing common phrase or note vastly differ from each other primarily because of kan-swars. Kan-swar is also the staring point of a meend.

Sparsh:
Kan-swars deal with touch note or grace note. Touch means Sparsh in Hindi. So these notes are known as sparsh-swars. Apart from instrumental rendition sparsh-swars can be played and executed on instruments as well. There are three ways of doing this, using a sparsh, swift short glide and krintan.

Krintan:
Opposite of sparsh is krintan. Movement of notes in Krintan is descending. The musical idea of behind Krintan and Sparsh is kan-swar. They produce different effects from kan-swar vocally produced. This is because the process is rather complex and involves plucking of the strings with both the hands. The ensuing sound has a metallic timbre.

Andolan:
This alankar is actually a gentle swing or oscillation which starts from a fixed note and touches the periphery of the adjacent notes. The special effect about Andolan is that during the course of oscillation, it touches the shrutis or microtones that exist in between.

Gamak:
One of the appropriate definitions of Gamak is a fast meend which is delivered with deliberate vigour and force and is repeated in an oscillatory manner. It can be differentiated from Andolan because it is clearly audible and faster in speed. Andolan is shruti based while Gamak is swar-based.

Kampit:
The purists say that kampit is a defective form of voice. It is a long note which is rendered in vibrato because intensity and sur can not be sustained for along time and indicated a problem in the voice, hence can not be treated as alankar. It is often referred to as short gamaks on one swars.

There is a school of musicians that would say kampit is a defect in the voice. A long note rendered in vibrato because uniform sur and intensity cannot be sustained indicates a defect in the voice and should not be treated as an alankar.

Khatka:
When a note or a group of notes are played or sung very fast with gusto to create or decorate another note is called gitkari or khatka.

Zamzama:
In urdu zamzama means "addition of notes". Just like the Khatka it is also a group of notes which is used to create the landing notes. Unlike the Khatka, notes in zamzama are rendered in a progressive permutation and combinations. The sound that comes out at the end generally feels like taan pattern with sharp gamaks.

Murki:
Murki is actually a note or cluster of note that sounds and feels like short, subtle taan. It also comprises of series of short clusters. A Murki is less forceful than zamzama or khatka.