Orissi -- Classical Dances of India Part 4

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Orissi -- The classical dance forms of Oriya region

Orissi as the name suggests comes from the Oriya region or from the state of Orissa in modern India. Till the 1960s it was not considered as Classical dance, however Guru Smt. Sanjukta Panigrahi had gone down to south India and had extensively worked on the same to get this dance form a

Artist : Subhomita Maitra

Classical status. Jayadeva’s Gita Govinda can be considered as the base book of this dance form. The main deity is Jaganatha, Subhadra Rani and Balarama, though other Hindu Gods & Godesses have been given tons of importance as well.

The antiquity of this dance form is evident from its roots that trace back to the ancient Sanskrit Hindu text called ‘Natya Shastra’ which deals with different performing arts.The history can be traced between 8th and the 11th century, when the kings took pride in excelling in art, music and dance. Quite a few stories about the King of Kaling and their patronage is famous.

While composing various dance items the choregraphers have used the statues of the ancient temples of Oria region as inspiration. The

Artist : Sunny Bhagat

caves and temples in Puri, Konarak, Bhubaneshwar and parts of Mednipur district of West Bengal does have tons of reference to this dance form in terms of statues and postures. The heritage site of Udayagiri, the largest Buddhist complex in Odisha, houses the Manchapuri cave belongs to the reign of Kharavela, the Jaina king of Kalinga from the Mahameghavahana dynasty who ruled sometime around the 1st or 2nd century BCE. The cave depicts carvings of musicians and dance.

Reference to four popular styles of vrittis that is methods of expressive presentations namely ‘Odra-Magadhi’, ‘Panchali’, ‘Dakshinatya’ and
‘Avanti’ is found in the text, of which Odra refers to this performing art.Devadasi parampara is an important part of Orissi and so is the Gothipur Parampara.

Costume : The dress worn in Orissi is sambhalpuri or katki saree of the region either in silk or cotton. The jewellery worn is intricate silver filigree. The word "Filigree" in french means " thin wire". In oriya it is called " TARCHASI". The ornaments used are Tikka, Allaka, Earrings (Jhummiki), Armlet, Neckless and Waist Belt.

Musical Instruments : The musical instruments that are

Traditions : There are 3 styles of Orissi dance that have evolved Mahari, Nartaki, Gotipu. The items includes Mangalacharan, Batu, Moksha, Pallavi, Slokam etc.

Noteable Dancers : Guru Deba Prasad Das, Guru Mayadhar Raut, Guru Pankaj Charan Das, Guru Mahadev Rout, Guru Raghu Dutta, Guru Kelucharan Mahapatra, Guru Sanjukta Panigrahi, Guru Sujata Mohapatra, Guru Reena Jana, Anindita Mukherjee, Dona Ganguly.

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