Odissi

A formal pose at the end of a dance portraying episodes in the history of Lord Krishna

Odissi is the classical dance form of Orissa in north-east India. The classic treatise of Indian dance, Natya Shastra, refers to it as Odra-Magadhi. First century BCE bas-reliefs in the hills of Udaygiri (near Bhubaneshwar) testify to its antiquity. It was suppressed under the British raj but has been reconstructed since India gained independence. It is particularly distinguished from other classical Indian dance forms by the importance it places upon the tribhangi (literally: three parts break), the independent movement of head, chest and pelvis,¹ and upon the basic square stance known as chauka.

Tradition and dancers

The Odissi tradition existed in three schools; Mahari, Nartaki, and Gotipua. Maharis were Orissan devadasis or temple girls (their name deriving from Maha (great) and ‘Nari’ or ‘Mahri’ (chosen)} particularly those at the temple of Jagganath at Puri. Early Maharis performed mainly nritta (pure dance) and abhinaya (interpretation of poetry) based on mantras & slokas, later Maharis, especially, performed dance sequences based on the lyrics of Jayadev's Gita Govinda. Bhitari gauni Maharis, were allowed in the inner temple while bahari gauni Maharis, though in the temples, were excluded from the sanctum sanctorum.

A dancer portrays Radha suffering over the infidelity of Krishna.

By the sixth century the Gotipua tradition was emerging. 0ne of the reasons given for the emergence of Gotipuas is that Vaishnavas did not approve of dancing by women. Gotipuas were young boys dressed as girls and taught the dance by the Maharis. During this period, Vaishnava poets composed innumerable lyrics in Oriya dedicated to Radha and Krishna. Gotipuas danced to these compositions. The Gotipuas stepped out of the precincts of the temples.

Nartaki dance took place in the royal courts, where it was much cultivated before the British period. At that time the misuse of devadasis came under strong attack, so that Odissi dance withered in the temples and became unfashionable at court. Only the the remnants of the gotipua school remained, and the reconstruction of the style required an archaeological and anthropological effort that has tended to foster a conservative purism.²

Dance vocabulary and repertoire

Odissi dancer Monalisa Ghosh in front of the Sun temple in Konark

Mangalacharan: An invocational piece. After paying homage to Lord Jagganath a sloka (hymn) in praise of some God or Goddess is sung, the meaning of which is brought out through dance. Mangalacharan also includes the ‘bhumi pranam’, begging forgiveness of mother earth for stamping on her, and the ‘trikhandi pranam’ or threefold salutation - above the head to the Gods, in front of the face to the gurus and in front of the chest to the audience.

Battu Nrutya: A dance piece offered to the Lord of dance - Lord Shiva in his ‘Batuka Bhairava’ form. This piece brings out the essence of Odissi.

Pallavi: A pure dance item in which a raga is elaborated through eye movements, body postures & intricate footwork.

Abhinaya: A poem telling a story conveyed to the audience through mudra or hand gestures (the language of Indian classical dance), facial expression and body movement.

Dashavataar: A dance piece describing the ten incarnations of the Lord Vishnu with verses taken from the Gita Govinda.

Moksha: A pure dance item with only the mardal-pakhawaj (percussion) accompaniment - the dance of liberation.

Odissi today

Padma Vibushan, Kelucharan Mohapatra, Pankaj Charan Das and Deba Prasad Das were some of the foremost proponents of the revived Odissi. Sanjukta Panigrahi, the great exponent of Odissi, embodied Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra's endeavour to revive the art form. Guru Surendranath Jena and his disciples, including Usha Chettur and Radhika Jha, have propagated a different style of Odissi in which the poses are moving sequences rather than static poses. The style is slower and requires great balance and control.

Today gurus of dance have created a new generation of highly talented dancers. Most of the present day gurus were Gotipua dancers themselves and have passed on the dance form to dancers and teachers all over India and abroad. In the early fifties the outside world hegan to take note of Odissi. Priyambada Mohanty represented Orissa in the classical dance category at an Inter University Youth Festival. Dr Charles Fabri hailed Odissi as a great dance form and helped Indrani Rehman study it. Kelucharan Mohapatra, Pankaj Charan Das, Deb Prasad Das, Mayadhar Raut, Sanjukta Panigrahi, Kum Kum Mohanty, Sonal Mansingh, Madhavi Mudgal and Protima Gauri, all contributed notably to the propagation of Odissi.

The current crop of dancers includes Gangadhar Pradhan, Durga Charan Ranbir, Madhavi Mudgal, Sonal Mansingh, Kiran Segal, Aruna Mohanty, Ramli Ibrahim, Sujata Mohapatra, Daksha Mashruwala, Aloka Kanungo, Surupa Sen, Bijayini Satpathy, Jyoti Rout, Manoranjan Pradhan, Leena Mohanty, Madhumita Patnaik, Nandita Behera, Jhelum Paranjape, Ratna Roy, Ileana Citaristi, Joyoti Das, and many others.

References

^ Article by David Courtney retrieved July 2008 [1]
^ Alessandra Lopez y Royo, The reinvention of odissi classical dance as a temple ritual, published in The Archaeology of Ritual ed. Evangelos Kyriakidis, Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, UCLA 2007

Contents

Tradition and dancers

Dance vocabulary and repertoire

Odissi today

References

See also

External links