UNIT 7 ODISSI Structure 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Objective 7.3 The Antiquity of the Roots of UJissi 7.4 A Brief History of Od issi 7.5 Jayadeva's Geetagovinda and Odissi 7.6 Technique 7.6.1 Nritta and Nritya 7.7 Music in Odissi 7.8 Repertoire 7.9 Some Wellknown Exponents and Performers 7.10 Self Assessment Questions 7.1 INTRODUCTION Whenever you visit the temples of India, the first thing that strikes you is the exquisitely carved sculptures of dancing - classical poses of solo dancers or group formations showing dancers, musicians and also the king and his retinue watching a performance. Even figures that are not in this category but portray scenes of gods punishing or killing demous or even the guards exhibit the clear influence of dancing. There are temples which literally translate the dicta of the naatyashastric texts like Bharata's Natyashastra, Sarngadeva's Sangeetaramakara, Jayaseva's Nrittaratnavali and others. You can identify the deities represented by the symbols that you know very well as dance students - a male figure holding a flute is Krishna, another holding bow and alTOWis Rama; a towering figure with ten heads is Ravana. A beautiful female figure playing on a veenaa is goddess Sarasvati and another seated in a lotus is goddess Lakshmi. But the greatest of these beautiful manifestations is the figure of Nataraja - the most sacred and venerated by all the Indian dancers. - A T" century A.D. text, Vishnudharrnottara Purana say, "vinatu nrityashastrena chitrasootram sudurvidam". The sage propounding this text says that without the knowledge of dancing the other plastic arts cannot be comprehended. This very clearly shows the eo-relationship of sculpture and dance. It is said that dance is a mobile sculpture and sculpture is a frozen dance. In this context, the classical dance style Odissi from Odisha is a shining example. Odissi is redolent with sculpturesque poses which are reminiscent of the glorious stone sculptures of Konark and other temples from Odisha. These sculptures appear as if they are actually executing the steps of Od is si that you WItness today. The serenity on the faces of the dancing figures is in keeping with the deeply devotional fervour of the dance. Odissi, if one has to describe its characteristics, is rather uncomplicated. Its beauty, its sculptures que poses and the lovely tribhangi - the triple bend in the body - always 48 remind one of the beauty of Indian art in general. Odissi Odissi Late Smt. Sanjukta Panigrahi 49 Understanding Indian Classical Dances 7.2 OBJECTIVE After studying this unit you should be able to: • Appreciate the eo-relationship of classical dance and Indian sculpture; • Understand history, form and content of Odissi; and • Be introduced to the exquisite beauty of Jayadeva's Geetagovinda. 7.3 ANTIQUITY OF ODISSI From the archaeological evidence available, it may be surmised that Odissi may be the earliest classical Indian dance style. There are beautiful dance sculptures in the Rani Gumpha Cave of 2nd century B.c. These relics include the first finished example of a dance scene with a full orchestra. In another inscription belonging to the same period from the Hathi Gumpha it is stated that in the third year of his reign, the Jaina king Kharavela, who was himself an accomplished dancer and musician, had arranged a performance of taandava and abhinaya for the enjoymentof his people. After this in 8th century A.D. there is a reference at Bhubaneshvar of the king's mother building a temple of Shiva and dedicating several dancing girls to it. This indicates that these temple dancing girls - devadasis, known as mahaaris, in Odisha were the earliest performers of Odissi dance and for more than a millennium were the repositories of this art. Later in 1194 king Angabhimadeva built a number of temples and also constructed the nata mandir as an annexe to the temple of Lord Jagganatha at Puri. The nata mandir was specially made for performances of the mahaaris and the musicians who were in the service of the temple. It is during this period that Poet Jayadeva wrote his immortal love-poem Geetagovinda extolling the divine love of Radha and Krishna and the recital of the Geetagovinda has become an indispensable part of the rituals of the Jagannatha temple. It also forms a major chunk of the repertoire of Odissi today. It is during this period also that the Abhinaya Chandrika, the foremost shaastra for Odissi, was written by Maheshvara Mahapatra. 7.4 ABRIEFIllSTORYOFODISSI As we come down the centuries we find an unbroken chain of the twin traditions of the singing of the Geetgovinda as a daily ritual of the Jagannatha temple and the mahaaris dancing at fixed times as part of the temple rituals. By the 15th century A.D., Vaishnavism as a religious sect, became the main religion of the people of Odisha and the Bhakti cult received a great impetus. From the 17thcentury onwards the mahaaris came to be employed to dance in the royal court as well. Tin today the mahaaris system continues in Odisha but the ritualistic aspect of their dance or of the singing of the Geetagovinda is for namesake only. From the early 17th century a class of boys named gotipua came into being. These were nubile young boys who dressed as dancing girls and danced for the temple as well as general entertainment. This brought in a very vigorous and acrobatic element in the dance. 50 7.5 JAYADEVA'S GEETAGOVINDAAND ODISSI Odissi Around 12th century A.D., rnadhura bhakti, a magnifestation of Krishna bhakti flowered and the entire country came under the sway of the Krishna cult and the exquite love between Him and his fovourite cowherdess of Gokul, Radha. The Radha- Krishna legend with the poignancy of their separation, Radha's ire at Krishna dallying with other gopis and their eventual re-union has, since then, gripped the Indian psyche very specially. Krishana's amorous frolicking with the gopis and Radha in the Kunja-s (bowers) on the banks of ri ver Yamuna are eternal themes for all the arts - poetry, music, dance, painting, sculpture etc. The most exquisite product of this trend is found in the great and eternal love-song the Geetagovinda of poet Jayadeva who was a great devotee of Lord Jagannatha (Krishna) at the Puri temple in Odisha. It is said that he wrote it specifically for being interpreted in dance and music and his wife Padmavati, who was herself a mahaari (devadasi), danced to it in the temples of Odhisa. The action of the Geetagovinda is confined over one night only. An anguished Radha is consumed with envy when she finds Krishna frolicking with other maidens. She is waiting for Krishna in the bower but he does not arrive. She pleads with her sakhi to bring Krishna, the sakhi approaches him and finds him in a dejected mood. She describes Radha's anguish and requests him to meet her. Ultimately almost at dawn Krishna comes to Radha but he has on his body the telltale marks of having frolicked with other gopis. Radha is angry and orders him to go away. Eventually Krishna asks for her pardon and both are reunited. This theme pervades our psyche even today. The songs are written in the form of ashtapadis (eight stanzas) and almost all styles today have adopted ashtapadis in their repertoire. But in Odissi they are of the utmost importance since they are, so to say, the soul of this dance style. 7.6 . TECHNIQUE The devadaasis in Orissa are called mahaaris. There is another wing of this dance which is danced by a nubile young boy called qotipua and these are the boys who indulge in more acrobatic dancing. Odissi, if one has to describe its characteristic, believes in the exposition of beauty and grace. As such the dance style is rather uncomplicated but its beauty, its sculpturesque poses and the lovely tribhangi - that is the triple bend in the body - always reminds us of the beauty of Indian art in general. Technically Odissi is a highly stylized dance combining the precepts ofNatyashastra, Abinayadarpana and Abhinayachandrika. Both nritta as well as nritya wise Odissi has a thoroughly systematised and exhaustive technique. The most prominent feature of the technique being the various bends - bhang is- of the body, the tribhanga aspect - or the triple bend in the body of the Indian sculpture and iconography is fully exploited in Odissi. 7.6.1 Nritta and Nritya In nritya and mukhaja abhinaya (facial expressions) it is very orthodox and subdued. The Odissi steps are based on the square, basic position of the feet called chauka and the different movements and bends of the sides. The most predominant featureis the 51 Understanding Indian bend in the waist or hip, the kati. These bends are usually tribhanga - the triple bend or Classical Dances atibhanga - maximum bend. The steps progress from the basic simple stamping of the foot accompanied by the neck, waist and hip-bend. Sometimes the chest moves diagonically enchancing the sculpturesque effect: Odissi being closeset to sculpture, utilizes the principles of images making like the sutra, maana etc. Odissi movements combine in them crispness as well as lilt. The positioning of the arms and hands is also in the square. The movements usually follow the direction and cadence of the sides and the kati balances the entire structuring of the dancing body. 7.7 MUSIC IN ODISSI Music in Odissi has its own individual regional flavour. It appears to be a very happy blend of both Karnatak and Hindustani musical modes. Yet it has some taalas which are Unique to Odissi only.