MÃÂtrika metre is a quantitative system of poetic metre in Indo-Aryan languages. MÃÂtrika metre's are based on units of prosodic time (mÃÂtrÃÂ) rather than groups of syllabes, vÃÂrnika metres.
The unit of measurement is the mÃÂtrÃÂ, or beat, from which it takes its name. A short vowel or a pause is counted as one mÃÂtrÃÂ, and long vowels, diphthongs, or a short vowel followed by a consonant cluster counts as two mÃÂtrÃÂs. 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 mÃÂtrÃÂ count does not always correspond exactly to the written vowel arrangement. Different mÃÂtrika metres have different rules determining caesurae; most require a specific pattern of rhyme.
The most popular of these metres in Hindi are the chaupÃÂë (sixteen mÃÂtrÃÂs), the chaupaë (fifteen mÃÂtrÃÂs), and the dohà(thirteen mÃÂtrÃÂs in the first and third feet and eleven, along with end-rhyme in the second and fourth).