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| Odissi |
Sculptural
relief, Dancers, Sun Temple,
Konarak, Orissa |
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Orissa,
on the eastern sea coast, is the home
of Odissi, one of the many forms of Indian
classical dance. Sensuous and lyrical,
Odissi is a dance of love and passion
touching on the divine and the human,
the sublime and the mundane. The Natya
Shastra mentions many regional
varieties, such as the south-eastern
style known as the Odhra
Magadha which can be identified
as the earliest precursor of present
day Odissi.
Archaeological evidence of this dance form dating back to the 2nd century B.C.
is found in the caves of Udayagiri and Khandagiri near Bhubaneshwar. Later, innumerable
examples of the Buddhist sculptures, the tantric images of dancing Yoginis, the
Nataraja, and other celestial musicians and dancers of early Shaivite temples
bear testimony to a continuing tradition of dance from the 2nd century B.C.E
to
the 10th century C.E. These influences found synthesis in an unique philosophy
- the dharma or faith of
Jagannath. With Hinduism taking roots in Orissa by about the 7th century A.D.,
many imposing temples were erected. The magnificent Sun Temple at Konarak, built
in the 13th century, with its Natya mandap or Hall
of dance, marks the culmination of the temple building activity in Orissa. These
dance movements, frozen in stone, continue to inspire Odissi dancers even today.
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For
centuries maharis were
the chief repositories of this dance.
The maharis,
who were originally temple dancers came
to be employed in royal courts which
resulted in the degeneration of the art
form. Around this time, a class of boys
called gotipuas were
trained in the art, they danced in the
temples and also for general entertainment.
Many of today's gurus of this style belong
to the gotipua tradition.
Odissi
is a highly stylised dance and to some
extent is based on the classical Natya
Shastra and the Abhinaya
Darpana. In fact, it has derived a great
deal from the Abhinaya Darpana Prakasha by
Jadunatha Sinha, the Abhinaya
Chandrika by Rajmani Patra,
and the Abhinaya Chandrika by
Maheshwara Mahapatra.
As
in other parts of India, creative literature
inspired the Odissi dancer also and
provided the themes for dance. This
is especially true of the 12th century Gita
Govinda by Jayadeva. It
is a profound example of the nayaka-nayika bhava
and surpasses other poems in its poetic
and stylistic content. The devotion
of the poet for Krishna permeates through
the work.
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Angika
Abhinaya |
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Chowk-Basic
Standing position |
Odissi
closely follows the tenets laid down
by the Natya Shastra.
Facial expressions, hand gestures and
body movements are used to suggest a
certain feeling, an emotion or one of
the nine rasas.
The techniques of movement are built around the two basic postures of the Chowk and
the Tribhanga. The chowk is
a position imitating a square - a very masculine stance with the weight of the
body equally balanced. The tribhanga is a very feminine
stance where the body is deflected at the neck, torso and the knees. |
Tribhangi
position |
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The
torso movement is very important
and is an unique feature of the
Odissi style. With the lower
half of the body remaining static,
the torso moves from one side
to the other along the axis passing
through the centre of the upper
half of the body. Great
training is required for this
control so as to avoid any shoulder
or hip movement. There are certain
foot positions with flat, toe
or heel contact.
These are used in a variety of
intricate combinations. There
are also numerous possibilities
of leg movements. Almost all
leg movements are spiral or circular,
whether in space or on the ground.
In
addition to the leg movement,
there are a variety of gaits
for doing pirouettes and jumps
and also certain postures inspired
by the sculptures. These bhangis,
as they are called are really
units of movement ending in
one particular stance.
Hand
gestures play an important
role both in nritta where
they are used only as decorative
embellishments and in nritya where
they are used for communication.
The
formal repertoire of Odissi
has a certain order of presentation,
where each successive item
is systematically put together
to produce the desired rasa.
The
opening item is Mangalacharan where
the dancer slowly enters the
stage with flowers in her hands
and makes an offering to mother
earth. This is followed by
an invocation to the deity
of the dancer's choice. Generally,
Ganesha is called upon to grant
an auspicious beginning. The
item ends with a nritta sequence
with salutations to God, the
Guru and the audience.
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Hasta
mudra for bee hovering over
a flower |
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Hasta
mudra for playing flute |
The
next item is called Batu where
the basic concepts of the Odissi nritta technique
are highlighted bringing out
the duality of the masculine
and the feminine through the
basic stance of the chauk and tribhanga.
This is danced in praise of Batukeshwar
Bhairav or Shiva.
The accompanying music is very
simple -only a refrain of dance
syllables.
After
the very basic exposition of nritta in Batu,
comes the flowering and ornamentation
of music and movements in Pallavi.
A musical composition in a particular raga is
visually represented by the dancer
with slow and subtle movements,
building up into complex patterns
highlighting rhythmic variations
within the tala structure.
This is followed by the rendering of abhinaya. Orissa
has a continuing tradition of dancing of the Ashtapadis of
Jayadeva's Gita Govinda since the 12th century. The
lyricism of this poem is particularly suited to the Odissi style. Apart from
the Gita Govinda, the compositions of other Oriya
poets like Upendra Bhanja, Baladeva Ratha, Banamali and Gopal Krishna are also
sung. |
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The
concluding item of the repertoire,
which may consist of more
than one pallavi and
items based on abhinaya,
is called moksha. Pakhawaj syllables
are recited and the dance
moves from slow to quick
sequences to reach a climax,
when the dancer pays the
final obeisance.
An
Odissi orchestra essentially
consists of a pakhawaj player
(usually the Guru himself),
a singer, a flutist, a sitar or
violin player and a manjira player.
The
dancer is adorned in elaborate
Oriya silver jewellery and
a special hair-do. The sari,
usually stitched nowadays,
is unique to the style.
In
each performance, even a
modern Odissi dancer still
reaffirms the faith of the devadasis or maharis where
they sought liberation or
moksha through the medium
of dance.
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Dancer
with musicians
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Under
the aegis of Ministry
of Culture,
Government of India
15-A, Sector - 7, Dwarka, New Delhi - 110075
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Centre for Cultural Resources and Training
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