Toshali Sands :: Dance of Puri

Dance of Puri

Indian art, music, dance, sculpture, architecture and literature all have their deep roots in religion of the country. Dance is a path of Yoga- it is a spontaneous mode of achieving unity in consciousness. it leads to an ecstatic communion with God and to salvation.

ODISSI DANCE :

Odissi dance is a typical classical dance form in Orissa, has its origin in the temples of Orissa. As the temples are the seats of cultural life in this state, Odissi form of classical dance has been closely connected with their day-to-day activities. Odissi dance is a peculiar form of indian classical dance.The rhythm, Bhangis and Mudras used in Odissi dance have a distinctive style of their own. Odissi dance mainly deals with the theme of infinite love between Radha and Krishna. History provide evidences of the practice of dedicating dancing girls to the temple in honour of Gods. Devadasis or dancing girls were dedicated to the temple in Kashmir,Bengal, Orissa, Saurashtra, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Mysore, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The institution of Devadasis is now extinct everywhere except in Orissa. Devadasis in Orissa are known as Maharis, meaning mahat naris . During the rule of Chodagangadeva Devadasis were employed in the Jagannath temple. After Chodagangadeva’s death Anangabhimadeva came to power and built Natyamandapa of the Jagannath temple. it was intended for performance of Maharias and the musicians inside the temple. There were two types of Maharis, the Bhitara Gani Maharis and Bahara Gani Maharis. Bhitara Gani Maharis were permitted to enter the innermost sanctum of the temple and sing during Badasingara while Bahara Gani Maharis were allowed to dance in Natyamandapa .

Devadasis were the only ones who kept this dancing tradition alive for generations. The Maharis attached to Jagannath temples were all Vaishavites while those attached to Lingaraj temple in Bhubaneswar were Saivites and at Jhankada temple at Kakatpur were dedicated to Shakti.Before Gitagovinda was introduced, the Maharis used to dance only Nruttya(rhythmic) portion and Abhinayas with Mantras. But after Jayadev’s Gitagovinda became a part and parcel of the rituals, the Maharis performed Abhinaya with different Bhabas and rasas in tune with Gitagovinda.

Another exponent of Odissi dance Ray Ramananda, who also a musician and a dramatist taught dancing to some boys and presented this dance drama Jagannath Ballabha Nataka before Lord Chaitanya and convinced him that singing and dancing are also forms of prayer. Then we find Gotipua system as Vaishavites did not approve dancing by women. Boys dressed as girls began to dance and for the first time, Odissi dance came out of the temple of Lord Jagannath and began to be performed in public.

Odissi embraces Nrutya and Natya in different items of its repertoire which is as follows:

Mangacharana : This is a dance in which dancer dedicates to the Lord and apologiges Mother earth for stamping her feet on her.

Stheyee Nrutya : This is an item of pure Nrutya. it begins with a series of poses.

Pallavi : Pallavi means elaboration. The movement of this dance is extreme graceful and lyrical.

Abhinaya : This is done through faial expression depicting rasa and bhaba with help of action of hands

Moksa Nrutya : It is the last item performed. This is item of pure Nrutya and is performed in fast tempo and the dancer becomes ecstatic and his/her mind and soul merges with God.

The Odissi dance, performed with the themes of Radha-Krishna, a piece from Geeta-Govinda, Dasavatar etc. The romantic dance forms can be seen in almost every cultural festivals of orissa particularly at Puri.