Pushpanjali is an offering of flowers to Indian Gods. In Sanskrit, pushpam means "flower" and anjali means "offering with folded hands". So Pushpanjali means offering of flowers with folded hands. Pushpanjali is also defined as a song for which Bharathanatyam dancers dance. This dance is generally done first, to welcome the people.

Alarippu, which means "flowerbud" in Tamil, is traditionally the first full dance piece that most Bharatanatyam dancers learn. It symbolizes the awakening of the dancer.It begins with the dancer simply moving her eyes, then her head, then slowly it "awakens" different parts of the body, like the hands and finally the feet. This piece gets rhythmically faster and faster until the climax where the dancer moves all of her body very fast. It is generally seen in the beginning of the barathanatya pieces after the Ganesha Kauvatvam or the Pushpanjali. This dance is set to 3/4 time music and is often accompanied by a drummer and a verbal percussionist.

Jathiswaram : The steps is 'Jathiswaram' are more complex than 'Alarippu'. In this item also the movements does not convey any meaning or theme. The composition can have amazing postures and teermaanams or muktayas(ending of a jati).

Shabdam : This is a dance item with both nritta and abhinaya. Usually, the theme of the lyrics will be devotional like praising lord Krishna, depicting lord Krishna's childhood, praising a king etc.

Varnam : Varnam is the most enthralling, interesting and a challenging item in a Bharatanatyam recital. Varnam is nearly 45 minutes to one hour long and creates an impression of beauty, grandeur and profundity while depicting the changing moods of love for the hero who is God. There is a perfect synchronization of Bhava, Raaga and Taala, thus giving the dancer abundant scope for displaying her rhythmic talents along with rich and variegated abhinaya.

Padam : Padams are abhinaya items, usually love lyrics and are rendered in a slower tempo. The various moods and emotions of the Naayikaa are executed by the dancer giving immense scope for the expression of variegated sentiments and shades of emotions.

Tillana : Tillana is a 'nritta' item comprising of beautiful and graceful pure dance steps along with a number of alluringly sculpturesque poses and varied patterns of movements. Each adavu is executed in slow, medium and fast speed with a meticulous combination of the adavus, resulting in scintillating teermaanams. 'Tillana' ends in fast speed, thus impressing and spell bounding the audience.