Chandas or Sanskrit prosody is a study of poetic metres and verse in Sanskrit.

The metres studied are also

called Chanda. These metres are classified based on the syllables present in each pada of the mantras.

There are seven major Vedic metres namely गायत्री, उष्णिक् , अनुष्टुभ ्, बह

ृ ती, पंक्ति, त्रिष्टुभ ्, and जगति

The major ancient metres in Sanskrit prosody[45][46]

Mapped
Meter Structure Varieties[47] Usage[48]
Sequence[45]
24
syllables; Common in Vedic texts
Gayatri 6x4 11
3 verses of Example: Rigveda 7.1.1-30, 8.2.14[49]
8 syllables
28
syllables;
2 verses of Vedas, not common
Ushnih 7x4 8
8; Example: Rigveda 1.8.23-26[50]
1 of 12
syllables
Most frequent in post-Vedic Sanskrit metrical
32
literature; embedded in the Bhagavad Gita,
Anushtub syllables;
8x4 12 the Mahabharata, the Ramayana,
h 4 verses of
the Puranas, Smritis and scientific treatises
8 syllables
Example: Rigveda 8.69.7-16, 10.136.7[51]
36
syllables;
2 verses of
8; Vedas, rare
Brihati 9x4 12
1 verse of Example: Rigveda 5.1.36, 3.9.1-8[52]
12;
1 verse of
8 syllables
40
syllables; Uncommon, found with Tristubh
Pankti 10x4 14
5 verses of Example: Rigveda 1.191.10-12[53]
8 syllables
44
Second in frequency in post-Vedic Sanskrit
syllables;
metric literature, dramas, plays, parts of the
Tristubh 4 verses of 11x4 22
Mahabharata, major 1st-millennium Kavyas
11
Example: Rigveda 4.50.4, 7.3.1-12[54]
syllables
48
Third most common, typically alternates with
syllables;
Tristubh in the same text, also found in
Jagati 4 verses of 12x4 30
separate cantos.
12
Example: Rigveda 1.51.13, 9.110.4-12[55]
syllables
The Vedanga (Sanskrit: वेदाङ्ग vedāṅga, "limbs of the Veda"[1]) are six auxiliary disciplines
of Hinduism that developed in ancient times, and have been connected with the study of the Vedas.
[2]
 These are:[2]

1. Shiksha (śikṣā): phonetics, phonology, pronunciation.[2] This auxiliary discipline has focused on

the letters of the Sanskrit alphabet, accent, quantity, stress, melody and rules of euphonic
combination of words during a Vedic recitation.[3][4]
2. Chandas (chandas): prosody.[5] This auxiliary discipline has focused on the poetic meters,
including those based on fixed number of syllables per verse, and those based on fixed number
of morae per verse.[6][7]
3. Vyakarana (vyākaraṇa): grammar and linguistic analysis.[8][9][10] This auxiliary discipline has
focused on the rules of grammar and linguistic analysis to establish the exact form of words and
sentences to properly express ideas.[11][12]
4. Nirukta (nirukta): etymology, explanation of words, particularly those that are archaic and have
ancient uses with unclear meaning.[13] This auxiliary discipline has focused on linguistic analysis
to help establish the proper meaning of the words, given the context they are used in. [11]
5. Kalpa (kalpa): ritual instructions.[2] This field focused on standardizing procedures for Vedic
rituals, rites of passage rituals associated with major life events such as birth, wedding and death
in family, as well as discussing the personal conduct and proper duties of an individual in
different stages of his life.[14]
6. Jyotisha (jyotiṣa): Auspicious time for rituals, astrology[2] and astronomy.[15][16] This auxiliary Vedic
discipline focused on time keeping.[17][18]

How many different Chandas are there in the Vedas?

Explain briefly about Chandas and Abhimanya Devthas.

Like for Gaythri mantra its Gaythri Chands, Savitha Devaatha Rshi is Vishwa Mitra

One Chandas how many letters one should refer or add for missing letters in Chandas while doing Yagnya

A question What are the 21 meters known to Rig Vedic seers? (actually a Rigveda mantra quoted) triggered me to
search for the list of 21 Chhandas. So, I have searched for Chhandasutras of Pingalacharya which is the oldest
scripture on Chhanda, one of the six Vedangas. Original Sanskrit text is easily available on Vedic reserve of
Maharshi University site, I searched for the translation but couldn't find any handy English or Hindi translation. I
found one Hindi translation on Internet Archive, I've read it but its quality is low and some information is missing,
however I got some interesting things from it. Still a thorough study was needed to summarize things.
Meanwhile I found a very useful research article on Chhanda (meter) of Rigveda from Shodhganga, a reservoir of
Indian theses. Chapter 5 of thesis contains very useful information on Chhandas and I have prepared my this
answer from it.
The referenced article is written based on 1. Chhanda Sutra of Pingalacharya and 2. Rigveda Pratisakya. Most
of the things are cited from this two scriptures on every step. You can read Chapter 5 pdf if you want to study and
learn; I'm writing an answer to the question:
The most popular 7 Chhandas, also mentioned in Shulka Yajurveda 23.33 are:

1. Gayatri6 + 6 + 6 + 6 =  24 syllables
2. Usnik  8 + 8 + 12 =  28 syllables
3. Anustubh  8 + 8 + 8 + 8 = 32 syllables
4. Brhati  8 + 8 + 12 + 8 =  36 syllables
5. Pankti 8 + 8 + 8 + 8 + 8 =  40 syllables
6. Tristubh11 + 11 + 11 + 11=  44 syllables
7. Jagati12 + 12 + 12 + 12 =  48 syllables
There are five categories of these meter of 1. Prajapati, 2. Devas, 3. Asuras, 4. Rishis and 5. Brahmanas and
syllables for them are as follows:

These seven Chhandas have their sub-varieties owing to the differences in the quantity of syllables which are as
follows:

Gayatri varieties

 Padapankti Gayatri. 5 + 5 + 5 + 5 + 5 = 25
 Bhurik Padapankti Gayatri 5 + 5 + 5 + 5 + 6 = 26
 Virat / Padanicrt Gayatri. 7 + 7 + 7 = 21
 Atinicrt Gdyatri. 7 + 7 + 6 = 20
 Vardhamdna Gayatri. 6 + 7 + 8 = 21
 Yavamadhya Gayatri 7 + 10 + 7 = 25
 Dvipada Gayatri. 12 + 12 = 24
 Ushiggarbha Gdyatri. 6 + 7 + 10 = 23

Usnik varieties

 Pura Usnik 12+ 8 + 8

 Kakubh Usnik. 8 + 12 + 8
 Kakumnyarikusiranicrt Usnik 11 + 12 + 4 = 27
 Pipilikanadhya Usnik. 11 + 6 + 11 = 27
 Janusira Usnik.11 + 11 + 6 = 28
 Anustubhgarbha Usnik. = 5 + 8 + 8 + 8 = 29
Anustubh varieties

 Krti Anustubh. 12 + 12 + 8 = 32
 Pipilikamadhyama – Anustubh. 12 + 8 + 12 = 32
 Kavirat -Anustubh. 9 + 12 + 9 = 30
 Nastarupa – Anustubh. = 9 + 10 + 13 = 32
 Virat – Anustubh. 10 + 10 + 10 = 30 ( e.g. Rig 7.22.4) or 11 + 11 + 11 = 33 (e.g. Rig 3.25.4)
 Mahapadaparikti – Anustubh. 5 + 5 + 5 + 5 + 5 + 6 = 31

Brhati varieties

 Purastad Brhati = 12 + 8 + 8 + 8 =36 syllables,

 Uparistat Brhati = 8 + 8 + 8 + 12 = 36 syllables,
 Nyankusarini = 8 + 12 + 8 + 8 = 36 syllables,
 Brhati urddhabrhati = 12 + 12 + 12 = 36 syllables,
 Bistarabrhati = 8 + 10 + 10 + 8 = 36 syllables,
 Pipilikamadhyamabrhati = 13 + 8 + 13 =34 syllables.
 Bisamapadabrhati = 9 + 8 + 11 + 8 = 36 syllables.

Pankti varieties

 Virat Pankti =10 + 10 + 10 + 10 = 40 syllables.

 Satobrhati Pankti= 12 + 8 + 1 2 + 8 = 40 syllables.
 Viparita Pankti = 8 + 12 + 8+ 12 = 40 syllables.
 Astara pankti = 8 + 8+ 12+12 = 40 syllables.
 Prastara Pankti = 12 + 12 + 8 + 8 = 40 syllables.
 Sanslara Pankti = 12 + 8 + 8 + 12 = 40 syllables.

Apart from these i) Aksara Pankti. ii) Alpasah Pankti. iii) Pada Pankti. iv) Jagati Pankti. v) Panchapada Pankti etc.
vi) Pathya Pankti are also mentioned in Chhandasutras.

Tristubh varieties

 Abhisarini Trisubh = 10 + 10 + 12 + 12 = 44 syllables

 Viratsthana Tristubh (three conditions)
1. 9 + 10 + 10 + 11 = 40 syllables,
2. 9 + 9 + 10 + 11 = 39 syllables,
3. 9 + 10 + 11 + 11 = 41 syllables.
 Viratpurana Tristubh = 10+10+8+8+8 = 44 syllables.
  Viratrupa Tristubh =11 + 11 + 1 1 + 8 = 41 syllables.
 Jyotismati Tristubh = 12 + 12 + 12 + 8 = 44 syllables.
 Mahabrhati Tristubh = 12 + 8 +8 + 8 + 8 = 44 syllables.
 Yavamadhya Trisubh = 8 + 8 + 12 + 8 + 8 = 44 syllables.

Jagati varieties

 Mahapankti Jagati= 8 + 8+ 8 + 8 + 8 + 8 = 48 syllables.

 Mahasatobrhati Jagati = 8 + 8 + 7 + 6 + 10 + 9 = 48 syllables.

Vedic meters are divided into three class. Above discussed seven Chhandas are of 1st class. Chhandas of other two
class are called Aatichhandas (long meters) wich are as follows:

The 2nd class contains seven metres:

8. Atijagati - (52 Syllables)

9. Sakvari - (52 syllables)
10. Atisakvari-{6 syllables)
11. Asti - (64 syllables)
12. Atyasti - (68 syllables)
13. Dhrti - (72 syllables)
14. Adhrti - (76 syllables)

The 3rd class also consists of seven metres:

15. Krti - (80 syllables)

16. Prakrti - (84 syllables)
17. Akrti - (88 syllables)
18. Vikrti - (92 syllables)
19. Samkrti - (96 syllables)
20. Adhikrti - (100 syllables)
21. Vtkrti- (104 syllables)

Q. about abhimany devthas like for gaythri mantra its gaythri chands, savitha devaatha rshi is vishwa mitra

Yes, reading 3rd chapter of Pingalacharya's Chhandasutras, I've prepared one table to relate Chhandas with their
Devatas, Varna, Gautra and Svaras. Hope this would be useful.
Major metres

The major Vedic Chandahs are 7 in number. They are - Gayatri, Ushnik, Anushtup, Brihati, Pangkti, Trishtup and
Jagati.

Sometimes Pangkti is also called Virat.

The number of syllables or Aksharas in the Mantra determines to which Chandah (or metre) it belongs.

Given below are the distributions, variants and total number of Mantras (for a particular Chandah in the Vedas):

Chandah name - Distribution - Number of variants it has - total number of mantras that are in this particular
Chandah

Gayatri - 8|8|8 - 10 - 2456

Ushnik - 8|8|12 - 7 - 398
Anushtup - 8|8|8|8| - 7 - 850
Brihati - 8|8|12|8 - 11 - 427
Pangkti - 8|8|8|8|8 - 7 - 499
Trishtup - 11|11|11|11 - 14 - 4258
Jagati - 12|12|12|12 - 3 - 1353.

So, while Gayatri Chnadah will have 24 syllables, Anushtup will have 32 syllables, a Pangkti Chandah will have 40
syllables and so on.

The number of Trishtup Chandah Mantras is the highest (4258) followed by Mantras in Gayatri Chandah.

The Chandah called Pangkti-Virat has 40 aksharas (syllables) and it's distribution is 10|10|10|10.

But for Gayatri there are as many as 10 variants and not all of them have exactly 24 syllables.

Some such variants are: 5|5|5|5|6, 5|5|5|4|6, 6|7|11, 7|7|7|, 7|6|6 etc and all of them belong to the Gayatri family of
metres.

Minor metres

There are some minor Vedic metres as well like Atijagati, Dhriti, Ati Dhriti etc. A similar list for them is as given
below:
Atijagati - 12|12|12|8|8 - 17
Shakvari - 8|8|8|8|8|8|8 - 19
Atishakvari - 16|16|12|8|8 - 10
Ashith - 16|16|16|8|8 - 7
Atyashith - 12|12|8|8|8|12 - 82
Dhriti - 12|12|8|8|8|16|8 - 2
Ati Dhriti - 12|12|8|8|8|12|8|8 - 76

Source - Essentials of Rig Veda, R.L.Kashyap ( Sri Aurobindo Kapaly Shastry Institute of Vedic culture).

Vedic meter or Chanda" (छन्द ) points towards how a mantra or verse is constructed in some definite rules.. A
Chandas is having rule of how many letters are there in it and how theese letters are divided into different parts
called Paadas . Chandas is one among six Vedangas or parts of Vedas.

There are a number of Chandas used in Vedas , Mainly there are Seven Chandas used in Vedas and those are are:

Gayatri: This Chandas has 24 Letters/Aksharas in each stanza/mantra divided into 3 Paadas (parts/legs) of 8
Letters/Aksharas.
Examples of Gayatri Chanda.:-

Gayatri Mantra

Rudra Gayatri Mantra 

Ushnik : This Chandas has 28 Letters/Aksharas in each stanza/mantra divided into 4 Paadas of 7 Letters/Aksharas
Anustup: This Chandas has 32 Letters/Aksharas in each stanza/ mantra divided into 4 Paadas of 8 Letters/Aksharas.
Most of the Slokas in typical classical Sanskrit uses this Chandas, most often recited being.
Example of Anustup Meter -: 
Brihati : This Chandas has 36 Letters/Aksharasin each stanzas or mantra divided into four 4 Paadas (8 + 8 + 12 + 8)
Letters/Aksharas.
Pankti : This Chandas has 40 Letters/Aksharas in each stanza divided into 4 Paadas of 10 Letters each (sometimes 5
Padas of 8 letters each)
Tristup: This Chandas has 44 Letters/Aksharas in each stanza divided into 4 Paadas of 11 Letters/Aksharas.
Jagati: This Chandas has 48 Letters/Aksharas in each stanza divided into 4 Paadas of 12 Letters/Aksharas.

Each of these Chandas has distinct rules for how the letter patterns are formed. According to scholars
Vedic mantras are much older than coming of Sanskrit grammar rules ,so its difficult to apply exact rules
always.There are Gayatris with different no. letters other than 24 letters is having different names. In this
case the rishi or the seer of the mantra is having his distinct way how the mantra shall be recited a Then
they also teach their students how to recite that. And these information got passed on in this way from
Teacher to students. For one must enquire qualified techer in a Veda-Pathshala or Vedic learning centre.

Below are some of the variation of main chandas.

Anustupa अनष्ु टुप ् क. -कविराट अनष्ु टुप ् Kaviraat Anustupa , ख - कृति अनष्ु टुप ् kruti Anustupa , न -नष्टरूपी अनष्ु टुप ्
Nastarupi Anustupa , घ - विराट अनुष्टुप ् Virat Anustupa.

उष्णिक Ushnika क. - अनुष्टुप ् गर्भा उष्णिक Anustupa Garbha Ushnika , ख - ककुप उष्णिक Kakupa Ushnika , ग -
तनुषिरा उष्णिक Tanushira Ushnika , घ - पुर उष्णिक Pur Ushnika
गायत्री Gayatri क - द्विपदा विराट गायत्री Dwipada Virat Gayatri , ख - पाद् निचत
ृ ् गायत्री Pada Nichrut Gayatri , ग -
प्रतिष्ठा गायत्री Pratistha Gayatri.
जगति Jagati क - महापन्क्ति जगति Mahapankti Jagati
त्रिष्टुप ् Trishtupa क - महाब्रह
ु ति त्रिष्टुप ् Mahabruhati Trishtupa , ख - यवमध्या महाब्रह
ु ति त्रिष्टुप ् Yavamadhya
Mahabruhati Trishtupa.
पंक्ति Pankti क - चतुष्पदा विराट पंक्ति Chatuspada Virat Pankti , ख - प्रस्तार पंक्ति प्रगाथ pragatha
बह
ृ ती Bruhati क -विष्टार बह
ृ ती बह
ृ ती Vishtaar Bruhati Bruhati , ख - स्कन्धोग्रीवी बह
ृ ती skandhogrivi Bruhati
AtiShakvari - अतिशक्वरी , Atijagati अतिजगति