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Odissi Dance
Orissa Folk Dance
With a charming and colorful music encompassing
several streams, the heavenly state of Orissa unfurls
many vistas of an array of dance forms and musical
styles. Flourishing for ages, the rare dance forms of
the state such as Odissi and Chhau are famous all over
the world.
A number of folk traditions also lend a captive
presence to it. The figures of musicians carved on
ancient temple walls speak of Orissa's rich musical
heritage. It was 11th Century AD that the folk music of
Orissa that still exists in the form of Triswari,
Chatuhswari, and Panchaswari was only modified into the
classical form.
Thus Oriya music is a classical form consisting of all
the necessary ingredients common to Hindustani and
Karnataki music, such as rags and talas. It is a
synthesis of four classes of music namely dhruvapada,
chitrapada, chitrakala and panchal. The dhruvapada is
the first line or lines to be sung repeatedly.
Chitrakala is the name given to the use of art in music.
Kavisurya Baladeva Rath, the renowned Oriya poet wrote
lyrics which are the best examples of chitrakala. Then
Chitrapada is the arrangement of words in an
alliterative style. All these combine to form the style
peculiar to Odissi music. Chhanda (metrical section)
contains the essence of Odissi music. The chhandas were
composed combining bhava (theme), kala (time), and swara
(tune).
Another special feature of Odissi music is the padi,
which consists of words to be sung in druta tala (fast
beat). Odissi music can be sung in different talas
namely navatala (nine beats), dashatala(ten beats) or
egar tala (eleven beats) as Odissi ragas are different
from the ragas of Hindustani and Karnataki music. The
chief Odissi ragas are Kalyana, Nata, Shree Gowda,
Baradi, Panchama, Dhanashri, Karnata, Bhairavee and
Shokabaradi.
There were saint-poets of Orissa who composed
lyrical poems to be sung. Bards usually went from place
to place singing these songs that were meant to
propagate religious ideas in various religious.
Instructions were usually given by the poet himself as
to how the lyric was to be sung, i.e. the raga or tune
to be employed and the tala or beat scheme to be
followed. Jayadeva was the first Oriya poet who composed
lyrics to be sung. In addition he also indicated the
contemporary classical ragas in which these were to be
sung. Prior to this there was the tradition of chhandas
that were simple in musical outline.
From the 16th century onwards Treatises on music
were written or compiled in Orissa. They were
Sangitamava Chandrika, Gita Prakasha, Sangita Kalalata
and Natya Manorama. Two treatises namely, Sangita Sarani
and Sangita Narayana were also written in the early 19th
century.
Odissi Dance
Orissa Folk Dance |
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