with Guru Sri Vishnu Tattva Das and the Odissi Vilas Dance Ensemble, and guest artists and choreographers: Santosh Ram and Samir Panigrahi from Rudrakshya Foundation, Odisha, India.

Odissi Dance
 

In ancient India, the temple was the center of learning culture, religion, and art. In the temple of Lord Jagannath, “Lord of the Universe”, religious rituals, music, and dance were combined together to create the highly sculpturesque and devotional dance style, Odissi.

 

According to archeological evidence, Odissi is one of the oldest Indian dance forms, dating back to the 1st and 2nd century BCE.

 

In the Natya Shastra, an ancient text on music, dance, and drama, Odissi is described as the dance from Odra-Magadhi and Utkal, the traditional names for the region now known as Odisha, in south eastern India. The graceful and flowing movements of this art form have been captured in stone in many temple sculptures throughout Odisha.

 

This devotional dance was an intrinsic part of the temple worship. The devadasis (servants of god/temple dancers), also known as the maharis in Odisha, dedicated themselves to singing and dancing for the pleasure of Lord Jagganath in the inner sanctum of the temple. Later, gotipuas (young boys dressed as girls) performed the same art for religious festivals and fairs outside the temple.

 

The basic postures in Odissi, which portray different deities, are chouka and tribhangi. Tribhangi depicts Lord Krishna's three-fold bending form (neck-torso-knees), and chouka, a square and centered stance, depicts Lord Jagannath, the presiding deity of Odissi dance. By combining these basic postures with intricate torso movements, hand gestures, facial expressions and elaborate footwork, various stories from ancient texts are brought to life.

 

In Odissi as in most other Indian classical dance forms, dance is split into two categories: Nritta and Nritya. Nritta is technical, pure dance with no specific storyline as such. It is often a lyrical composition celebrating a season or a mood. Nritya or Abhinaya is expressional dance where the dancers use movement and expression to narrate a story from Hindu mythology. Most abhinayas in Odissi are based on the Sringara Rasa or the “mood of love” between Lord Krishna, an avatar of Lord Vishnu, the Creator, and his favorite consort Radha. 

 

Today, though Odissi dance has stepped out of the temple into mainstream society, it continues to inspire and awaken beauty and grace in the hearts of artists and spectators alike. In increasing numbers it is brought to life through dedication and devoted work of a growing community of dancers, allowing it to evolve and thrive as it passes from teacher to student, carrying this ancient dance form into the new millennium.

 

NOTE ON THE MUSIC:  All Odissi music is based on north Indian ragas — a pattern of notes having characteristic intervals, rhythms, and embellishments, used as a basis for improvisation. Ragas (from Sanskrit, meaning “color” or “passion”) are usually classified according to such characteristics as mood, emotion, season, and time. A typical Odissi number starts with a short aalap or introductory section followed by the main song that elaborates the raga.

​

​

 

Dance Items

 

​

1. Mangalacharan: Neelambhuja 

 

Mangalacharan is the opening dance item in the Odissi repertoire, and it serves as an invocation, seeking blessings for an auspicious start. This dance begins with a pushpanjali—an offering of flowers to Lord Jagannath, the deity of Odissi, followed by a prayer to Mother Earth. Tonight’s Mangalacharan invokes Lord Rama.

​

Rama, who has complexion and softness like that of a blue lotus.

On whose left side resides his dear consort Sita.

Who has a divine arrow and a beautiful bow in His hands,

I pray to that Shri Rama who is the Lord of Raghu dynasty. 

                           (Ek-shloki Ramayana in Śrī Rāmacaritamānasa)

 

The dancer concludes the Mangalacharan with a Trikhandi Pranam or the three-fold salutation — above the head to the Gods in heaven, in front of the forehead to the Guru, and in front of the chest to the respected audience.

 

Choreography: Padmavibhushan Guru Kelucharan Mahapatra 

Music Composition: Pandit Bhubaneshwar Mishra

Raag: Megh & Kedar                

Taal: Chaturasra Ekatali

Raag for the shloka: Jhinjhoti  

Dancer: Guru Shri Vishnu Tattva Das

 

 

 

2. Bhavani Bhujanga 

​

Based on the eighth-century philosopher and poet Adi Shankaracharya’s Bhavani Bhujangam Stotra, this performance is based on a shloka/verse in praise of the glorious beauty of Goddess Bhavani, the “giver of life,” a ferocious form of the Goddess Parvati. 

The performance itself portrays a seeker, who through their complete surrender to Ma Bhavani and the transformative power of deep meditation/yoga, awakens their kundalini shakti, (depicted as serpents) the primordial cosmic energy that resides in all of us, and eventually reach a state of moksha, divine ecstasy, where the divine feminine and masculine energies are in perfect balance. 

A loose translation of the poem: 

 

I bow to Goddess Bhavani, who is pure consciousness and ever-lasting Bliss.
She sits at the end of a lotus-seat through six chakras as support pillars.
She resides bright and lustrous inside the Sushumna nadi of living beings that shines forth brilliantly as the life spirit. She melts the orb of moon then extracts and consumes its light; the divine-nectar. She is an idol of the divine-nectar, whose true nature is eternal bliss. 

I worship that Goddess Bhavani who has a shining red body glorious as innumerable rising suns. 

She is extremely beautiful with the lovely and charming grace. She is seated on the triangle in the midst of the white lotus.

Oh Mother! I praise your lotus-face which bears musk on the cheeks, nostrils, eye-brows and forehead. Your beautiful lips and the graceful side-glances are capable of conferring rewards. I praise your head, radiant with the crest-jewel and the moon, shining with the densely set white jasmine flowers with swarms of bees swinging inside the moving braids.

Oh Bhavani! Salutations to you Oh auspicious one! You are my refuge. Oh  Meritorious one! Oh! Compassion-incarnate! One who cannot be understood by Brahma and others! Protect me from the fear and confusion of the forest of mundane existence.

​

Choreography: Guru Shri Bichitrananda Swain

Music Composition: Guru Ramahari Das

Rhythm Composition: Guru Dhaneswar Swain

Raag: Gundakriya

Taal: Eka Taali and Jati

Dancers: Samir Panigrahi and Santosh Ram of Rudrakshya Foundation

​

 

 

3. Aravi Pallavi
Aravi Pallavi is a pure dance piece that reflects the lyrical beauty of Odissi. 

The term Pallavi means “blossoming,” and in this piece, the movements and rhythm gradually unfold, mirroring the blossoming of a flower. The item elaborates on the musical raga Aravi, building from slow, graceful movements to a faster tempo. The dancer’s precise footwork and fluid expressions bring the music to life, creating a joyous and dynamic conclusion to the performance.

​

Choreography: Padmavibhushan Guru Kelucharan Mahapatra 

Music Composition: Pandit Bhubaneshwar Mishra

Raag: Aravi             

Taal: Chaturasra Ekatali

Dancers: Jenny Dinh, Barnali Ghosh, Aparna Krishnamoorthy, Maureen Nandini Mitra, Gireeja Ranade, Megha Ray, Seema Samantsinhar, Haruko Tanaka, Keerthana Yellapragada

​

​​

​​

​​

4. Dine Na Dakibu (Don’t Call Me By Name)

This solo abhinaya item is set to a poem written by the Vaishnava saint poet of Odhisa, Banamali. In the poem, Radha pleads to Sri Krishna’s flute asking it not to call her name during the day because it makes her lose concentration in her household work. 

Radha says to the flute: You are but a humble thorny plant, yet the sound that Krishna produces through you pierces my heart like the five arrows of Kamadeva, the god of love, and torments me so. 

How is it that even when I slip away with my sakhis (friends), you always recognize me? Is it that you recognize my long hair, or my earrings?

No matter how much Radha tries to drown out the sound of flute, even by burying it, its melody still reaches her and agitates her.

In the end, the poet Banamali addresses Radha. Do not worry, Radha, he assures her.  The holder of the flute, Lord Krishna, will certainly come and meet you soon. Thus reassured, Radha leaves.

​

Choreography: Padmavibhushan Guru Kelucharan Mahapatra 

Music Composition: Pandit Bhubaneshwar Mishra           

Taal: Tripata

Dancer: Guru Shri Vishnu Tattva Das

​

​

 

5. ⁠Ardhanariswar

Set to verses written by the 8th century Sanskrit poet, Adi Sankaracharya, this nritta or abhinaya item celebrates Ardhanarishvar (“The half-female Lord”), one of the most iconic forms of Lord Shiva. Depicted as half-male and half-female, in this avatar of Shiva is physically fused with his consort Parvati and represents the synthesis of masculine (purusha) and feminine (prakriti) energies of the universe. Parvati represents creation and Shiva represents destruction. Since no creation can take place without dissolution and no dissolution can take place without creation, Parvati and Shiva complement each other to maintain the never-ending cycle of creation and destruction. 

 

Some consider this ancient poem to be one of India's earliest references to gender equality. In its verses, Adi Sankaracharya joyously describes the complementary aspects of Shiva and Parvati: 

 

She exudes the fragrance of a champa flower, he of camphor. She has soft sensuous locks, his locks are wild and unruly. Her body is dusted vermillion powder, his with the ashes from the funeral pyre. She has the gentle smile of new creation, he has the fierce look of destruction. She is adorned with jewels and he with snakes. She wears beautiful clothes and he has only the vast sky as his garment. She performs lasya dance, which gentle and graceful movements, he does tandava, with rigorous movements that are an expressionof primal, rhythmic energy. They are the Universal Father and Universal Mother, whose coexistence keeps cycle of creation and destruction, and life itself, going.  

 

Choreography: Padmavibhushan ​Guru Kelucharan Mahapatra

Music Composition:​​ Pandit Raghunath Panigrahi

Raag: Malika

Taal: Malika

Dancers: Santosh Ram and Samir Kumar Panigrahi of Rudrakshya Foundation

​

​

​

6. Moksha 

Moksha is the concluding piece of the Odissi dance repertoire . It means Liberation. Liberation from material existence & physical bondage to spiritual awareness. The dancer elevates himself to the state of ecstasy, fulfillment & bliss. This fast paced dance of ecstasy is followed by an invocatory prayer in Sanskrit for universal peace & harmony.

 

Dance Choreography: Padmavibhushan Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra

Music Composition: Pandit Bhubaneshwar Mishra

Raga: Raga Bhairavi

Tala: Ek Taal

Dancers: Santosh Ram and Samir Kumar Panigrahi of Rudrakshya Foundation

 

 

 

​

​