odissi

The foundations of Odissi are found in Natya Shastra, the ancient Hindu Sanskrit text of performance arts.{{cite book|author1=Sunil Kothari|author2=Avinash Pasricha|title=Odissi, Indian classical dance art |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P_0MAQAAMAAJ |year=1990|publisher=Marg Publications|isbn=978-81-85026-13-8|pages=32–33, 48–49, 68 }}{{cite book|author=Kathleen Kuiper|title=The Culture of India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c8PJFLeURhsC&pg=PA278 |year=2010|publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group|isbn=978-1-61530-149-2 |pages=278 }} The basic dance units described in the Natya Shastra, all 108 of them, are identical to those in Odissi. The text is attributed to the ancient scholar Bharata Muni, and its first complete compilation is dated to between 200 BCE and 200 CE,{{Sfn|Natalia Lidova|2014}}{{Sfn|Tarla Mehta|1995|pp=xxiv, 19–20}} but estimates vary between 500 BCE and 500 CE.{{Sfn|Wallace Dace|1963|p=249}} The most studied version of the Natya Shastra text consists of about 6000 verses structured into 36 chapters.{{Sfn|Natalia Lidova|2014}}{{Sfn|Emmie Te Nijenhuis|1974|pp=1–25}} The text, states Natalia Lidova, describes the theory of Tāṇḍava dance (Shiva), the theory of rasa, of bhāva, expression, gestures, acting techniques, basic steps, standing postures – all of which are part of Indian classical dances.{{Sfn|Natalia Lidova|2014}}{{Sfn|Kapila Vatsyayan|2001}} Dance and performance arts, states this ancient text,{{cite book|author=Guy L. Beck|title=Sonic Liturgy: Ritual and Music in Hindu Tradition|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UzUMCAAAQBAJ |year=2012|publisher=University of South Carolina Press|isbn=978-1-61117-108-2|pages=138–139 |quote=Quote: "A summation of the signal importance of the Natyasastra for Hindu religion and culture has been provided by Susan Schwartz, "In short, the Natyasastra is an exhaustive encyclopedic dissertation of the arts, with an emphasis on performing arts as its central feature. It is also full of invocations to deities, acknowledging the divine origins of the arts and the central role of performance arts in achieving divine goals (...)".}} are a form of expression of spiritual ideas, virtues and the essence of scriptures.{{cite web|title=The Mirror of Gesture|author=Coormaraswamy and Duggirala|publisher=Harvard University Press|year=1917|page=4|url=https://archive.org/stream/cu31924012568535#page/n5/mode/2up}}; Also see chapter 36 The Natya Shastra refers to four pravrittis (methods of expressive delivery) in vogue – Avanti, Dakshinatya, Panchali and Odra-Magadhi ; of these, the Odra refers to Odisha.

More direct historical evidence of dance and music as an ancient performance art are found in archaeological sites such as caves and in temple carvings of Bhubaneswar, Konark and Puri.{{cite book|author1=Sunil Kothari|author2=Avinash Pasricha|title=Odissi, Indian classical dance art |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P_0MAQAAMAAJ |year=1990|publisher=Marg Publications|isbn=978-81-85026-13-8|pages=13–16, 31–32}} The Manchapuri cave in Udayagiri shows carvings of dance and musicians, and this has been dated to the time of Jain king Kharavela in the first or second century BCE. The Hathigumpha inscriptions, also dated to the same ruler, mention music and dance :{{cite book|author1=Sunil Kothari|author2=Avinash Pasricha|title=Odissi, Indian classical dance art |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P_0MAQAAMAAJ |year=1990|publisher=Marg Publications|isbn=978-81-85026-13-8|pages=5–6}}Benudhar Patra (2008), [https://www.jstor.org/stable/41692117 Merchants, Guilds and Trade in Ancient India: An Odishan Perspective], Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Volume 89, pages 133-168

(he [the king]) versed in the science of the Gandharvas (i.e., music), entertains the capital with the exhibition of dapa, dancing, singing and instrumental music and by causing to be held festivities and assemblies (samajas)...

— Hathigumpha inscription, Line 5, ~ 2nd–1st century BCE[http://www.sdstate.edu/projectsouthasia/upload/HathigumphaInscription.pdf Hathigumpha inscription] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303232906/http://www.sdstate.edu/projectsouthasia/upload/HathigumphaInscription.pdf |date=3 March 2016 }} South Dakota State University, Epigraphia Indica, Vol. XX (1929–30)J. F. Fleet (1910), [https://www.jstor.org/stable/25189732 The Hathigumpha Inscription], The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, (Jul. 1910), Cambridge University Press, pages 824–828

The classical music tradition of Odisha, known as Odissi music, also has ancient roots. Archeologists have reported the discovery of 20-key, carefully shaped polished basalt lithophone in Sankarjang, the highlands of Odisha, which is dated to about 1000 BCE.{{Cite journal|author1=P. Yule |author2=M. Bemmann |title=Klangsteine aus Orissa-Die frühesten Musikinstrumente Indiens?|journal=Archaeologia Musicalis|volume=2|issue=1 |year=1988|pages=41–50|url=http://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/savifadok/volltexte/2008/177/}}{{cite book|author1=Bruno Nettl|author2=Ruth M. Stone|author3=James Porter|display-authors=etal|title=The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: South Asia : the Indian subcontinent|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=ZOlNv8MAXIEC&pg=PA319 |year=1998|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-0-8240-4946-1 |pages=319 }}

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The Hindu, Jain and Buddhist archaeological sites in Odisha state, particularly the Assia range of hills show inscriptions and carvings of dances that are dated to the 6th to 9th century CE. Important sites include the Ranigumpha in Udaygiri, and various caves and temples at Lalitgiri, Ratnagiri and Alatgiri sites. The Buddhist icons, for example, are depicted as dancing gods and goddesses, with Heruka, Vajravarahi, and Marichi in Odissi-like postures.{{cite book|author1=Sunil Kothari|author2=Avinash Pasricha|title=Odissi, Indian classical dance art |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P_0MAQAAMAAJ |year=1990|publisher=Marg Publications|isbn=978-81-85026-13-8|pages=13–15}}DB Mishra (2006), [http://www.orissa.gov.in/e-magazine/Orissareview/may2006/engpdf/22-29.pdf Orissan Inscriptions] Odisha Review Historical evidence, states Alexandra Carter, shows that Odissi Maharis (Hindu temple dancers) and dance halls architecture (nata-mandapa) were in vogue at least by the 9th century CE.{{cite book|author=Alexandra Carter|title=Rethinking Dance History: A Reader|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jYaMAQAAQBAJ |year=2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-48500-8|pages=147–148 }}

According to Kapila Vatsyayan, the Kalpasutra of Jainism, in its manuscripts discovered in Gujarat, includes classical Indian dance poses – such as the Samapada, the Tribhangi and the Chauka of Odissi. This, states Vatsyayan, suggests that Odissi was admired or at least well known in distant parts of India, far from Odisha in the medieval era, to be included in the margins of an important Jain text.{{cite book|author=Kapila Vatsyayan|title=Dance In Indian Painting|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=58fUibaZdGYC|year=1982 |publisher=Abhinav Publications|isbn=978-0391022362|pages=73–78 }} However, the Jain manuscripts use the dance poses as decorative art in the margins and cover, but do not describe or discuss the dance. Hindu dance texts such as the Abhinaya Chandrika and Abhinaya Darpana provide a detailed description of the movements of the feet, hands, the standing postures, the movement and the dance repertoire.{{cite book|author1=Sunil Kothari|author2=Avinash Pasricha|title=Odissi, Indian classical dance art |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P_0MAQAAMAAJ |year=1990|publisher=Marg Publications|isbn=978-81-85026-13-8|pages=66–67}} It includes illustrations of the karanas mentioned in Natya Shastra.{{sfn|Reginald Massey|2004|pp=210-212}} Similarly, the illustrated Hindu text on temple architecture from Odisha, the Shilpa Prakasha, deals with Odia architecture and sculpture, and includes Odissi postures.{{cite book|author1=Alice Boner|author2=Sadāśiva Rath Śarmā|title=Silpa Prakasa Medieval Odishan Sanskrit Text on Temple Architecture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=itQUAAAAIAAJ |year=1966|publisher=Brill Academic|pages=74–80, 52, 154 }}

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Actual sculptures that have survived into the modern era and panel reliefs in Odia temples, dated to be from the 10th to 14th century, show Odissi dance. This is evidenced in Jagannatha temple in Puri, as well as other temples of Vaishnavism, Shaivism, Shaktism and Vedic deities such as Surya (Sun) in Odisha. There are several sculptures of dancers and musicians in Konark Sun Temple and Brahmeswara Temple in Bhubaneswar.

The composition of the poetic texts by 8th century Shankaracharya and particularly of divine love inspired Gitagovinda by 12th century Jayadeva influenced the focus and growth of modern Odissi.{{cite book|author=Archana Verma|title=Performance and Culture: Narrative, Image and Enactment in India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iAArBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA43 |year=2011|publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing|isbn=978-1-4438-2832-1 |pages=43–57 }} Odissi was performed in the temples by the dancers called Maharis, who played out these spiritual poems and underlying religious plays, after training and perfecting their art of dance starting from an early age, and who were revered as auspicious to religious services.

After 12th-century, Odia temples, monasteries and nearby institutions such as the Puspagiri in the eastern Indian subcontinent came under waves of attacks and ransacking by Muslim armies, a turmoil that impacted all arts and eroded the freedoms previously enjoyed by performance artists. The official records of Sultan Firuz Shah Tughlaq's invasion in Odisha (1360{{ndash}}1361 CE), for example, describe the destruction of the Jagannath temple as well as numerous other temples, defacing of dancing statues, and ruining of dance halls.{{cite book|author=Dhirendranath Patnaik|title=Odissi dance|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=TBtHAQAAIAAJ |year=1990|publisher=Odisha Sangeet Natak Adademi|pages=68–69 }} This led to a broad decline in Odissi and other religious arts, but there were some benevolent rulers in this period who supported arts particularly through performances at courts. During the Sultanate and Mughal era of India, the temple dancers were moved to entertain the Sultan's family and courts.{{cite book|author=Stephanie Burridge|title=Shifting sands: dance in Asia and the Pacific|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mm8NAQAAMAAJ|year=2006|publisher=Australian Dance Council|isbn=978-1-875255-15-3|page=32}} They became associated with concubinage to the nobility.{{citation needed|date=August 2016}}

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The Odissi dance likely expanded in the 17th century, states Alexandra Carter, under King Ramachandradeva's patronage. This expansion integrated martial arts (akhanda) and athletics into Odissi dance, by engaging boys and youth called Gotipuas, as a means to physically train the young for the military and to resist foreign invasions.{{cite book|author=Alexandra Carter|title=Rethinking Dance History: A Reader|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jYaMAQAAQBAJ |year=2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-48500-8|pages=148–149 }} According to Ragini Devi, historical evidence suggests that the Gotipuas tradition was known and nurtured in the 14th century, by Raja of Khordha.{{Sfn|Ragini Devi|1990|p=142}}

During the British Raj, the officials of the colonial government ridiculed the temple traditions, while Christian missionaries launched a sustained attack on the moral outrage of sensuousness of Odissi and other Hindu temple dance arts.{{cite book|author=Mary Ellen Snodgrass|title=The Encyclopedia of World Folk Dance|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DMGpDAAAQBAJ |year=2016|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-4422-5749-8 |pages=165–168 }}{{cite book|author=Margaret E. Walker|title=India's Kathak Dance in Historical Perspective|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nC83DAAAQBAJ&pg=PA94|year=2016|publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-11737-7 |pages=94–98 }} In 1872, a British civil servant named William Hunter watched a performance at the Jagannatha temple in Puri, then wrote, "Indecent ceremonies disgraced the ritual, and dancing girls with rolling eyes put the modest worshipper to the blush...", and then attacked them as idol-worshipping prostitutes who expressed their devotion with "airy gyrations".{{cite book|author=Alexandra Carter|title=Rethinking Dance History: A Reader|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jYaMAQAAQBAJ |year=2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-48500-8|pages=145–146 }}

Christian missionaries launched the "anti-dance movement" in 1892, to ban all such dance forms. The dancers were frequently stigmatized as prostitutes by Europeans during the colonial era.{{cite journal|title=The Hindu Temple-dancer: Prostitute or Nun? |author= Amrit Srinivasan|journal= The Cambridge Journal of Anthropology|volume= 8| number= 1 |year =1983| pages= 73–99|jstor=23816342}}{{cite book|author=Leslie C. Orr|title=Donors, Devotees, and Daughters of God: Temple Women in Medieval Tamilnadu|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F___xKcP8lMC |year=2000|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-535672-4|pages=5, 8–17}} In 1910, the British colonial government in India banned temple dancing,{{cite book|author1=Pallabi Chakravorty|author2=Nilanjana Gupta|title=Dance Matters: Performing India on Local and Global Stages|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KQly7wn0C5sC&pg=PA30 |year=2012|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-51612-2 |pages=30 }} and the dance artists were reduced to abject poverty from the lack of any financial support for performance arts, combined with stereotyping stigma.

The temple dance ban and cultural discrimination during colonial rule marshalled a movement by Hindus to question the stereotypes and to revive the regional arts of India, including Odissi. Due to these efforts, the classical Indian dances witnessed a period of renaissance and reconstruction, which gained momentum particularly after Indians gained their freedom from colonialism.{{cite book|author1=Debra Craine|author2=Judith Mackrell|title=The Oxford Dictionary of Dance|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=42g8Hp-xA48C |year=2010|publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0199563449 |pages=420 }}

Odissi, along with several other major Indian dances gained recognition after efforts by many scholars and performers in the 1950s, particularly by Kavichandra Kalicharan Pattanayak, an Oriya poet, dramatist and researcher. Pattanayak is also credited with naming the dance form as "Odissi".{{cite journal|author=David Dennen |url=https://www.academia.edu/2577115 |title=The Naming of Odissi: Changing Conceptions of Music in Odisha|journal=Ravenshaw Journal of Literary and Cultural Studies (Vol. 3) |date=January 2013 }}

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Odissi, in the classical and medieval period has been, a team dance founded on Hindu texts. This drama-dance involved women (Maharis) enacting a spiritual poem or a religious story either in the inner sanctum of a Hindu temple, or in the Natamandira attached to the temple.{{Sfn|Reginald Massey|2004|p=209}} The Odissi performing Maharis combined pure dance with expression, to play out and communicate the underlying text through abhinaya (gestures).{{Sfn|Reginald Massey|2004|p=209}}{{cite book|author=Alexandra Carter|title=Rethinking Dance History: A Reader|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jYaMAQAAQBAJ |year=2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-48500-8|pages=149 }} The performance art evolved to include another aspect, wherein teams of boys – dressed as girls – called Gotipuas expanded the Odissi repertoire, such as by adding acrobatics and athletic moves, and they performed both near the temples and open fairs for general folksy entertainment. In the Indian tradition, many of the accomplished gotipuas became the gurus (teachers) in their adulthood. Modern Odissi is a diversified performance art, men have joined the women, and its reconstruction since the 1950s have added new plays and aspects of other Indian dances.

Love is a universal theme and one of the paradigmatic values in Indian religions. This theme is expressed through sensuous love poems and metaphors of sexual union in Krishna-related literature, and as longing eros (Shringara) in its dance arts such as in Odissi, from the early times.{{cite book|author=Archana Verma|title=Performance and Culture: Narrative, Image and Enactment in India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iAArBwAAQBAJ |year=2011|publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |isbn= 978-1-4438-2832-1|pages=43–47 }} Hinduism, states Judith Hanna, encourages the artist to "strive to suggest, reveal or re-create the infinite, divine self", and art is considered as "the supreme means of realizing the Universal Being".{{cite book|author=Judith Lynne Hanna|title=Dance, Sex, and Gender: Signs of Identity, Dominance, Defiance, and Desire|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QGJ68sbWFVUC |year=1988|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-31551-5|pages=102–103 }} Physical intimacy is not something considered as a reason for shame, rather considered a form of celebration and worship, where the saint is the lover and the lover is the saint.{{cite book|author=Judith Lynne Hanna|title=Dance, Sex, and Gender: Signs of Identity, Dominance, Defiance, and Desire|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QGJ68sbWFVUC |year=1988|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-31551-5|pages=98–106 }} This aspect of Odissi dancing has been subdued in the modern post-colonial reconstructions, states Alexandra Carter, and the emphasis has expanded to "expressions of personal artistic excellence as ritualized spiritual articulations".

The traditional Odissi repertoire, like all classical Indian dances, includes Nritta (pure dance, solo), Nritya (dance with emotions, solo) and Natya (dramatic dance, group).{{cite book|author1=Bruno Nettl|author2=Ruth M. Stone|author3=James Porter|display-authors=etal|title=The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: South Asia : the Indian subcontinent|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZOlNv8MAXIEC |year=1998|publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-8240-4946-1 |pages=519–521 }}{{Sfn|Reginald Massey|2004|pp=207-214}} These three performance aspects of Odissi are described and illustrated in the foundational Hindu texts, particularly the Natya Shastra, Abhinaya Darpana and the 16th-century Abhinaya Chandrika by Maheshwara Mahapatra of Odisha.{{Sfn|Reginald Massey|2004|pp=207–214}}

• The Nritta performance is abstract, fast and rhythmic aspect of the dance.{{Sfn|Reginald Massey|2004|pp=207–214}} The viewer is presented with pure movement in Nritta, wherein the emphasis is the beauty in motion, form, speed, range and pattern. This part of the repertoire has no interpretative aspect, no telling of story. It is a technical performance, and aims to engage the senses (prakriti) of the audience.{{cite book|author=Janet Descutner|title=Asian Dance|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8tCYjXOtkdgC |year=2010|publisher=Infobase|isbn=978-1-4381-3078-1|pages=45–46}}
• The Nritya is slower and expressive aspect of the dance that attempts to communicate feelings, storyline particularly with spiritual themes in Hindu dance traditions.{{cite book|author=Ellen Koskoff|title=The Concise Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: The Middle East, South Asia, East Asia, Southeast Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=73MO0eiQD_EC&pg=PA955 |year=2008|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-99404-0 |pages=955 }}{{Sfn|Reginald Massey|2004|pp=207-214}} In a nritya, the dance-acting expands to include silent expression of words through the sign language of gestures and body motion set to musical notes. This part of a repertoire is more than sensory enjoyment, it aims to engage the emotions and mind of the viewer.
• The Natyam is a play, typically a team performance, but can be acted out by a solo performer where the dancer uses certain standardized body movements to indicate a new character in the underlying story. A Natya incorporates the elements of a Nritya.{{Sfn|Reginald Massey|2004|pp=207–214}}
• The Mokshya is a climatic pure dance of Odissi, aiming to highlight the liberation of soul and serenity in the spiritual.{{cite book|author= Alessandra Royo| editor=Pallabi Chakravorty, Nilanjana Gupta|title=Dance Matters: Performing India on Local and Global Stages|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_QDgCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA267|year=2012|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-51613-9|page=267}}

Odissi dance recitals are in Odia and Sanskrit language in the music strictly follows ragas & talas of the Odissi music tradition. The talas used in Odissi dance are Ekatali, Khemata, Rupaka, Tripata, Jhampa, Jati Tala, Adatali, Matha, Aditala, Sarimana, Kuduka and others.

Traditional Odissi repertoire sequence starts with an invocation called Mangalacharana.{{cite book|author1=Bruno Nettl|author2=Ruth M. Stone|author3=James Porter|display-authors=etal|title=The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: South Asia : the Indian subcontinent|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZOlNv8MAXIEC |year=1998|publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-8240-4946-1 |pages=520 }} A shloka (hymn) in praise of a god or goddess is sung, such as to Jagannath (an avatar of Vishnu), the meaning of which is expressed through dance. Mangalacharana is followed by Pushpanjali (offering of flowers) and Bhumi Pranam (salutation to mother earth). The invocation also includes Trikhandi Pranam or the three-fold salutation – to the devas (gods), to the gurus (teachers) and to the lokas or rasikas (fellow dancers and audience).{{cite book|author=Catherine B. Asher|title=India 2001: Reference Encyclopedia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F_BtAAAAMAAJ|year=1995|publisher=South Asia Book|isbn=978-0-945921-42-4|page=6}}

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The next sequential step in an Odissi performance is Batu, also known as Battu Nrutya or Sthayee Nrutya or Batuka Bhairava.{{Sfn|Kapila Vatsyayan|1974|pp=38–39}} It is a fast pace, pure dance (nritta) performed in the honor of Shiva. There is no song or recitation accompanying this part of the dance, just rhythmic music. This pure dance sequence in Odissi builds up to a Pallavi which is often slow, graceful & lyrical movements of the eyes, neck, torso & feet & slowly builds in a crescendo to climax in a fast tempo at the end.{{Sfn|Kapila Vatsyayan|1974|pp=38–39}}

The nritya follows next, and consists of Abhinaya, or an expressional dance which is an enactment of a song or poetry.{{Sfn|Kapila Vatsyayan|1974|pp=38–39}} The dancer(s) communicate the story in a sign language, using mudras (hand gestures), bhavas (enacting mood, emotions), eye and body movement.{{Sfn|Ragini Devi|1990|pp=144–145}} The dance is fluid, graceful and sensual. Abhinaya in Odissi is performed to verses recited in Sanskrit or Odia language.{{Sfn|Kapila Vatsyayan|1974|pp=38, 65}} Most common are Abhinayas on Oriya songs or Sanskrit Ashthapadis or Sanskrit stutis like the Dashavatara Stotra (depicting the ten incarnations of Vishnu) or the Ardhanari Stotra (half man, half woman form of the divine).{{citation needed|date=August 2016}} Many regionally performed Abhinaya compositions are based on the Radha-Krishna theme. The Astapadis of the Radha-Krishna love poem Gita Govinda written by Jayadeva are usually performed in Odisha, as part of the dance repertoire.{{Sfn|Kapila Vatsyayan|1974|p=36}}

The natya part, or dance drama, is next in sequence. Usually Hindu mythologies, epics and legendary dramas are chosen as themes.{{Sfn|Kapila Vatsyayan|1974|pp=35–37}}

A distinctive part of the Odissi tradition is the inclusion of Moksha (or Mokshya) finale in the performance sequence. This the concluding item of a recital. Moksha in Hindu traditions means “spiritual liberation”. This dance movement traditionally attempts to convey a sense of spiritual release and soul liberation, soaring into the realm of pure aesthetics. Movement and pose merge in a fast pace pure dance climax.

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The basic unit of Odissi are called bhangas. These are made up of eight belis, or body positions and movements, combined in many varieties.{{sfn|Reginald Massey|2004|pp=210–212}} Motion is uthas (rising or up), baithas (sitting or down) or sthankas (standing).{{sfn|Reginald Massey|2004|pp=210–212}} The gaits or movement on the dance floor is called chaalis, with movement tempo linked to emotions according to the classical Sanskrit texts. Thus, for example, burhas or quick pace suggest excitement, while a slow confused pace suggests dejection. For aesthetics, movement is centered on a core, a point in space or floor, and each dancer has her imaginary square of space, with spins and expression held within it.{{sfn|Reginald Massey|2004|pp=210–212}} The foot movement or pada bhedas too have basic dance units, and Odissi has six of these, in contrast to four found in most classical Indian dances.{{sfn|Reginald Massey|2004|pp=210–212}}

The three primary dance positions in Odissi are:

• Chouka – the square position, with weight equally placed on the two legs in a squatting position, spine straight, arms raised up with elbows bent.{{cite web | url=https://www.bhumidance.com/basics-1 | title=Basics }}
• Abhanga – the body weight shifts to one foot, while the feet and knees are kept forward in a standing position, one hip extending sideways and torso deflected away from supporting leg.
• Tribhanga – is an S-shaped three-fold bending of body, with torso deflecting in one direction while the head and hips deflecting in the opposite direction of torso. Further, the hands and legs frame the body into a composite of two squares (rectangle), providing an aesthetic frame of reference. This is described in the ancient Sanskrit texts, and forms of it are found in other Hindu dance arts, but tribhanga postures developed most in and are distinctive to Odissi, and they are found in historic Hindu temple reliefs.

Mudras or Hastas are hand gestures which are used to express the meaning of a given act. Like all classical dances of India, the aim of Odissi is in part to convey emotions, mood and inner feelings in the story by appropriate hand and facial gestures. There are 63 Hastas in modern Odissi dance, and these have the same names or structure as those in the pan-Indian Hindu texts, but most closely matching those in the Abhinaya Chandrika.{{sfn|Reginald Massey|2004|pp=210–212}} These are subdivided into three, according to the traditional texts:

• Asamyukta Hasta – Single hand Mudras – 28 Prakar (gestures, for instance to communicate a salute, prayer, embrace, energy, bond, swing, carriage, shell, arrow, holding a thing, wheel, and so on.)
• Samyukta Hasta – Double hand Mudras – 24 Prakar (gestures, for instance to indicate a flag, flower, type of bird or animal, moon, action like grasping, and so on.)
• Nritya Hasta – “Pure Dance” Mudras

The Mudra system is derived from the "Abhinaya Darpana" by Nandikeshavara and the ancient Natya Shastra of Bharata Muni.{{cite book|author1=Sunil Kothari|author2=Avinash Pasricha|title=Odissi, Indian classical dance art |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P_0MAQAAMAAJ |year=1990|publisher=Marg Publications|isbn=978-81-85026-13-8|pages=64–67}}

File:The Odissi Costume - Dipanwita Roy.jpg

The Odissi dancers are colorfully dressed with makeup and jewellery. The sari worn by Odissi dancers are brightly coloured, and usually of local silk (Pattasari).{{cite book|author=Dhirendranath Patnaik|title=Odissi dance|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TBtHAQAAIAAJ|year=1990|publisher=Odisha Sangeet Natak Adademi|pages=112–113}} It is worn with pleats, or may have a pleat tailor stitched in front, to allow maximum flexibility during the footwork. These saris have traditional prints of Odisha with regional designs and embellishments, and may be the Sambalpuri sari and Bomkai sari.{{citation needed|date=August 2016}}

The jewellery includes silver pieces, a metal favored in regional tradition.{{cite book|author=Anne-Marie Gaston|editor=Hillary P. Rodrigues|title=Studying Hinduism in Practice|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u9eoAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA81|year=2012|publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-68097-7 |pages=81 }} The hair is tied up, and typically drawn into an elaborate bun resembling a Hindu temple spire, and decorated with seenthi.{{cite book|author=Dhirendranath Patnaik|title=Odissi dance|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TBtHAQAAIAAJ|year=1990|publisher=Odisha Sangeet Natak Adademi|pages=9–11}} The hairstyle may contain a moon shaped crest of white flowers, or a reed crown called mukoot with peacock feathers (symbolism for Krishna). The dancers forehead is marked with tikka, and adorned with various jewelry such as the allaka (head piece on which the tikka hangs). The eyes are ringed with kajal (black eyeliner).{{cite book|author=Dhirendranath Patnaik|title=Odissi dance|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TBtHAQAAIAAJ|year=1990|publisher=Odisha Sangeet Natak Adademi|pages=113–115}}

Ear covers called kapa or ear rings decorate the sides of the head, while necklace adorns the neck. The dancer wears a pair of armlets also called bahichudi or bajuband, on the upper arm. The wrist is covered with kankana (bangles). At the waist they wear an elaborate belt which ties down one end of the sari. The ankles are decorated with a leather piece on top of which are bells (ghungroo). The dancer's palms and soles may be painted with red coloured dye called the alta.

Modern Odissi male performers wear dhoti – a broadcloth tied around waist, pleated for movement, and tucked between legs; usually extends to knee or lower. Upper body is bare chested, and a long thin folded translucent sheet wrapping over one shoulder and usually tucked below a wide belt.{{cite book|author1=Bruno Nettl|author2=Ruth M. Stone|author3=James Porter|display-authors=etal|title=The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: South Asia : the Indian subcontinent|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=ZOlNv8MAXIEC&pg=PA319 |year=1998|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-0-8240-4946-1 |pages=521 }}{{Odissi Classical Music sidebar}}

{{Main|Odissi music}}

Odissi dance is accompanied by the traditional classical music of the state of Odisha, Odissi music. Rooted in the ancient ritual music tradition dedicated to Lord Jagannatha, Odissi music has a rich history spanning over two thousand years, distinguished by its unique sangita-shastras (musical treatises), a specialized system of Ragas and Talas, and a distinctive style of performance characterised by the andolita gamaka. The primary Odissi mela ragas are Kalyana, Nata, Sri, Baradi, Gouri, Panchama, Dhanasri, Karnata, Bhairabi and Sokabaradi.{{cite web|url=http://orissaculture.gov.in/dance.asp|title=Culture Department|publisher=Orissaculture.gov.in|access-date=19 May 2012|archive-date=3 April 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120403151246/http://www.orissaculture.gov.in/dance.asp|url-status=dead}}

Odissi dance, states Ragini Devi, is a form of "visualized music", wherein the Ragas and Raginis, respectively the primary and secondary musical modes, are integrated by the musicians and interpreted through the dancer.{{Sfn|Ragini Devi|1990|pp=147–149}} Each note is a means, has a purpose and with a mood in classical Indian music, which Odissi accompanies to express sentiments in a song through Parija.{{Sfn|Ragini Devi|1990|pp=147–149}} This is true whether the performance is formal, or less formal as in Nartana and Natangi used during festive occasions and the folksy celebration of life.{{Sfn|Ragini Devi|1990|pp=147–149}}

Like most Indian dance forms, an Odissi troupe performs with the accompaniment of a musical ensemble. The mini-orchestra consists of a number of instruments, often varying slightly by region; the ubiquitous tanpura{{cite web|url=https://chandrakantha.com/articles/indian_music/nritya/odissi.html#:~:text=This%20necessitates%20a%20technique%20which,as%20a%20separate%20classical%20system |title=Odissi |author=Courtney, David and Chandrakantha |website=Chandrakantha.com |date=1998–2021}} is used for a consistent, droning ambience throughout, with the mardala for percussion. Melodic instruments range from the harmonium, bansuri (bamboo flute) or sarangi to the sitar and violin. Additionally, manjira (finger cymbals) or other small, percussive instruments may be used. At times, vocalists may be featured, usually singing simple, rhythmic phrases and melodies with dancing specifically choreographed to match.

File:Odissi group performance.jpg

The Odissi tradition existed in three schools: Mahari, Nartaki, and Gotipua:

• Maharis were Odia devadasis or temple girls, their name deriving from Maha (great) and Nari (girl), or Mahri (chosen) particularly those at the temple of Jagganath at Puri. Early Maharis performed Nritta (pure dance) and Abhinaya (interpretation of poetry) dedicated to various Hindu gods and goddesses, as well as Puranic mythologies and Vedic legends. Later, Maharis especially performed dance sequences based on the lyrics of Jayadev's Gita Govinda.{{cite book|author1=Sunil Kothari|author2=Avinash Pasricha|title=Odissi, Indian classical dance art |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P_0MAQAAMAAJ |year=1990|publisher=Marg Publications|isbn=978-81-85026-13-8|pages=41–49 }} This style is more sensuous and closer to the classical Sanskrit texts on dance, music and performance arts.
• Gotipuas were boys dressed up as girls and taught the dance by the Maharis. This style included martial arts, athletics and acrobatics. Gotipuas danced to these compositions outside the temples and fairgrounds as folksy entertainment.
• Nartaki dance took place in the royal courts, where it was prevalent before the British period.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{{cite book|author=Dhirendranath Patnaik|title=Odissi dance|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=TBtHAQAAIAAJ |year=1990|publisher=Odisha Sangeet Natak Adademi|pages=84–85}}

File:Kasturi Pattanaik-Photo-3.jpg

Kelucharan Mohapatra, Pankaj Charan Das, Deba Prasad Das and Raghunath Dutta were the four major gurus who revived Odissi in the late forties and early fifties. Sanjukta Panigrahi was a leading disciple of Kelucharan Mohapatra who popularized Odissi by performing in India and abroad. In the mid-sixties, three other disciples of Kelucharan Mohapatra, Kumkum Mohanty and Sonal Mansingh, were known for their performances in India and abroad. Some other notable disciples include, Debi Basu, Jhelum Paranjape, Shubhada Varadkar, Daksha Mashruwala and Nandita Behera. Laximipriya Mohapatra performed a piece of Odissi abhinaya in the Annapurna Theatre in Cuttack in 1948, a show upheld as the first classical Odissi dance performance after its contemporary revival.{{cite news| url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100809/jsp/orissa/story_12788878.jsp | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130728151333/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100809/jsp/orissa/story_12788878.jsp | url-status=dead | archive-date=28 July 2013 | location=Calcutta, India | work=The Telegraph | title=Steps to success | date=9 August 2010}} Guru Mayadhar Raut played a pivotal role in giving Odissi dance its classical status. He introduced Mudra Vinyoga in 1955 and Sancharibhava in the Odissi dance items, and portrayed Shringara Rasa in Gita Govinda Ashthapadis. His notable compositions include Pashyati Dishi Dishi and Priya Charu Shile, composed in 1961.Kaktikar, A. Odissi Yaatra: The Journey of Guru Mayadhar Raut. Delhi: B. R. Rhythms. 2010. {{ISBN|978-81-88827-21-3}}.

{{State of Odisha}}

Odissi has been included in Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar's BTech syllabus since 2015 as the first Indian national technical institute to introduce any classical dance in syllabus.{{cite news|last=Pradhan|first=Ashok|title=IIT Bhubaneswar becomes first IIT in country to introduce dance as BTech subject|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/education/news/IIT-Bhubaneswar-becomes-first-IIT-in-country-to-introduce-dance-as-BTech-subject/articleshow/48911403.cms|access-date=13 September 2015|work=The Times of India|date=11 September 2015}}{{cite news|last1=Barik|first1=Satyasundar|title=IIT-Bhubaneswar to train students in Odissi too|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/iitbhubaneswar-to-train-students-in-odissi-too/article7642531.ece|access-date=13 September 2015|work=The Hindu|date=12 September 2015}}{{cite news|title=IIT-Bhubaneswar Becomes First IIT to Introduce Odissi as a Course|url=http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/odisha/IIT-Bhubaneswar-Becomes-First-IIT-to-Introduce-Odissi-as-a-Course/2015/09/11/article3022753.ece|access-date=13 September 2015|work=The New Indian Express|date=12 September 2015|archive-date=12 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150912190353/http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/odisha/IIT-Bhubaneswar-Becomes-First-IIT-to-Introduce-Odissi-as-a-Course/2015/09/11/article3022753.ece|url-status=dead}}

File:GWR attempt for largest Odissi Dance.jpg on the largest Odissi dance event.]]

Guinness World Records has acknowledged the feat of the largest congregation of Odissi dancers in a single event. 555 Odissi dancers performed at the event hosted on 23 December 2011, in the Kalinga stadium, Bhubaneswar, Odisha. The dancers performed the mangalacharana, Battu, Pallavi, Abhinaya and Mokshya dance items from the Odissi repertoire.{{cite web|url=http://newindianexpress.com/states/odisha/article335732.ece|title=Odissi dancers enter Guinness|website=The New Indian Express|access-date=27 March 2018|archive-date=15 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160915060502/http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/odisha/article335732.ece|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.thesundayindian.com/en/story/guinness-world-records-enlists-odissi-dance-show/254/29065/|title=Guinness World Records enlists Odissi dance show – Subrat dash – The Sunday Indian|website=thesundayindian.com|access-date=9 September 2021|archive-date=27 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211027153954/http://www.thesundayindian.com/en/story/guinness-world-records-enlists-odissi-dance-show/254/29065/|url-status=dead}}

More than 1000 Odissi dancers performed at the World Cultural Festival{{cite web|url=http://zeenews.india.com/entertainment/and-more/live-watch-art-of-living-s-world-culture-festival-2016-day-2_1864974.html|title=LIVE: Watch – Art of Living's World Culture Festival 2016 – Day 2|date=12 March 2016|website=india.com|access-date=27 March 2018}}{{cite web|url=http://odishasuntimes.com/2015/12/16/sri-sri-to-visit-odisha-to-prepare-for-world-culture-festival/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160402085721/http://odishasuntimes.com/2015/12/16/sri-sri-to-visit-odisha-to-prepare-for-world-culture-festival/|url-status=usurped|archive-date=2 April 2016|title=Sri Sri to visit Odisha to prepare for World Culture Festival |last=Ayaskant|website=odishasuntimes.com|access-date=27 March 2018}} 12 March 2016. This is till date the largest congregation of Odissi dancers in a single event.

File:Oxford Odissi Centre.JPG announcing the Oxford Odissi Centre.]]

An Odissi dance centre has been opened from January 2016, at the University of Oxford.{{cite web|url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1160113/jsp/odisha/story_63528.jsp|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160116080818/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1160113/jsp/odisha/story_63528.jsp|url-status=dead|archive-date=16 January 2016|title=Odissi beats to resonate at Oxford University|website=The Telegraph (India)|access-date=27 March 2018}} Known as Oxford Odissi Centre, it is an initiative of the Odissi dancer and choreographer Baisali Mohanty who is also a post-graduate scholar at the University of Oxford.{{cite web|url=http://odishasuntimes.com/2015/12/26/odissi-centre-to-open-at-oxford-university-from-jan/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160121150255/http://odishasuntimes.com/2015/12/26/odissi-centre-to-open-at-oxford-university-from-jan/|url-status=usurped|archive-date=21 January 2016|title=Odissi Centre to open at Oxford University from Jan |last=Ayaskant|website=odishasuntimes.com|access-date=27 March 2018}}

Beside holding regular Odissi dance classes at its institution, the Oxford Odissi Centre also conducts Odissi dance workshops at other academic institutions in the United Kingdom.{{cite web|url=http://www.dailypioneer.com/print.php?printFOR=storydetail&story_url_key=odishi-centre-to-open-at-oxford-in-january§ion_url_key=state-editions|title=The Pioneer|website=The Pioneer (India)|access-date=27 March 2018}}{{cite web|url=http://kalingatv.com/state-news/oxford-university-odissi-centre-jan/|title=Kalinga TV on Facebook|publisher=KalingaTV|access-date=27 March 2018}}

• Indian classical dance
• Ghungroo
• Odissi music
• Gotipua

{{reflist|30em}}

• Odissi : What, Why and How… Evolution, Revival and Technique, by Madhumita Raut. Published by B. R. Rhythms, Delhi, 2007. {{ISBN|81-88827-10-X}}.
• Odissi Yaatra: The Journey of Guru Mayadhar Raut, by Aadya Kaktikar (ed. Madhumita Raut). Published by B. R. Rhythms, Delhi, 2010. {{ISBN|978-81-88827-21-3}}.
• Odissi Dance, by Dhirendranath Patnaik. Published by Odisha Sangeet Natak Akademi, 1971.
• Odissi – The Dance Divine, by Ranjana Gauhar and Dushyant Parasher. Published by Niyogi Books, 2007. {{ISBN|81-89738-17-8}}.
• Odissi, Indian Classical Dance Art: Odisi Nritya, by Sunil Kothari, Avinash Pasricha. Marg Publications, 1990. {{ISBN|81-85026-13-0}}.
• Perspectives on Odissi Theatre, by Ramesh Prasad Panigrahi, Odisha Sangeet Natak Akademi. Published by Odisha Sangeet Natak Akademi, 1998.
• Abhinaya-chandrika and Odissi dance, by Maheshwar Mahapatra, Alekha Chandra Sarangi, Sushama Kulshreshthaa, Maya Das. Published by Eastern Book Linkers, 2001. {{ISBN|81-7854-010-X}}.
• Rethinking Odissi, by Dinanath Pathy. Published by Harman Pub. House, 2007. {{ISBN|81-86622-88-8}}.
• {{cite book|author=Natalia Lidova|publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2014 |doi=10.1093/obo/9780195399318-0071 |title= Natyashastra }}
• {{cite book|author=Natalia Lidova |title=Drama and Ritual of Early Hinduism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3TKarwqJJP0C |date=1994 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-1234-5 }}
• {{cite book|author=Ragini Devi|title=Dance Dialects of India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KRz5ykKRVAEC |year=1990 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-0674-0}}
• {{cite journal|last=Williams|first=Drid|title=In the Shadow of Hollywood Orientalism: Authentic East Indian Dancing|url=http://jashm.press.illinois.edu/12.3/12-3IntheShadow_Williams78-99.pdf|journal=Visual Anthropology|volume=17|issue=1|year=2004|pages=69–98|publisher=Routledge|doi=10.1080/08949460490274013|s2cid=29065670|access-date=31 July 2016|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304121105/http://jashm.press.illinois.edu/12.3/12-3IntheShadow_Williams78-99.pdf|url-status=dead}}
• {{cite book |author=Tarla Mehta | title=Sanskrit Play Production in Ancient India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l7naMj1UxIkC | year=1995| publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-1057-0 }}
• {{cite book|last= Fergusson |first=James |title=The Caves Temples of India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5YqEFKdU8FEC&pg=PA405|year=1880|publisher=W. H. Allen|access-date=2 April 2016}}
• {{cite book|last=Michell|first=George l|title=Temple Architecture and Art of the Early Chalukyas: Badami, Mahakuta, Aihole, Pattadakal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-1TroAEACAAJ|date=15 October 2014|publisher=Niyogi Books|isbn=978-93-83098-33-0}}
• {{cite book|author=Reginald Massey|title=India's Dances: Their History, Technique, and Repertoire|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t6MJ8jbHqIwC |year=2004|publisher=Abhinav Publications|isbn=978-81-7017-434-9 }}
• {{cite book|author= Emmie Te Nijenhuis |author-link=Emmie te Nijenhuis |title=Indian Music: History and Structure |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NrgfAAAAIAAJ |year=1974|publisher= BRILL Academic|isbn=90-04-03978-3 }}
• {{cite book|author=Kapila Vatsyayan |title=Bharata, the Nāṭyaśāstra |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zKW1PAAACAAJ |year=2001|publisher=Sahitya Akademi |isbn=978-81-260-1220-6}}
• {{cite book| author=Kapila Vatsyayan |title=Classical Indian dance in literature and the arts |year=1977 |publisher=Sangeet Natak Akademi |oclc= 233639306}}, [http://library.mpib-berlin.mpg.de/toc/z2008_2719.pdf Table of Contents]
• {{citation| author=Kapila Vatsyayan |title=Indian classical dance |year=1974 |publisher=Sangeet Natak Akademi |oclc= 2238067 }}
• {{cite book| author=Kapila Vatsyayan |title=Aesthetic theories and forms in Indian tradition |year=2008 |publisher=Munshiram Manoharlal |oclc= 286469807| isbn= 978-8187586357}}
• {{cite book| author=Kapila Vatsyayan |title=Dance In Indian Painting |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=58fUibaZdGYC |publisher=Abhinav Publications |isbn=978-81-7017-153-9}}
• {{cite journal | author =Wallace Dace | title=The Concept of "Rasa" in Sanskrit Dramatic Theory | journal=Educational Theatre Journal | volume=15 | issue=3 | pages=249–254 | year=1963 | jstor=3204783 | doi=10.2307/3204783 }}

{{Commons category|Odissi}}

{{Wikiquote}}

• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X69dOnl_zKw Odissi solo performance: Nitisha Nanda], Arabhi Pallav, New Delhi 2013
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRl3Jdxn1ZQ Odissi group dance: Megh Pallavi], Vancouver 2014
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52bscmW8x80 Maryam Shakiba – Odissi Dance – Manglacharan Ganesh Vandana] Pushkar 2014
• [http://www.dmoz.org/Arts/Performing_Arts/Dance/Classical_Indian/Odissi/ Odissi links] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110318135952/http://www.dmoz.org/Arts/Performing_Arts/Dance/Classical_Indian/Odissi/ |date=18 March 2011 }} at the Open Directory
• [http://www.narthaki.com/odissi/odidivi.htm Odissi schools], Classical Indian Dance Portal
• [https://pad.ma/grid/title/project==Odissi_Archive The annotated Odissi Dance Archive on Pad.ma]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20090410060341/http://orissagov.nic.in/e-magazine/Orissareview/2008/May-2008/engpdf/The_Story17-19.pdf History of Odissi and Geeta Govinda] JN Dhar, Orissa Review
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20060505124201/http://www.bharatbhavankerala.org/oddissi.htm Bharat Bhavan], a Kerala-based Department of Culture information website.

{{Dance in India}}

{{Odia culture|state=collapsed}}

{{Dance}}

{{Hindudharma}}

Category:Arts of Odisha

Category:Odia culture

Category:Jayadeva

Category:Classical dance genres of India

Category:Hindu temple dance

Category:Odissi exponents

Category:Odissi music

Category:Artforms based on Odissi music