Naga Dance
The most virile
and spectacular dance during the religious processions in the
district of Puri is known as Naga dance. Generally young and
energetic men are chosen for the dance. The costume is heavy
and elaborate. The dancer wears a huge head-gear profusely decorated
with silver ornaments and a false beard almost covering the
face. Multi-coloured attached in two bamboo sticks are tightly
fitted to the arms. With jerky movement of the shoulders he
dances in heroic steps. Sometimes he holds a gun. He moves at
the head of the procession along with the drummers who provide
rhythm to his movements. Formerly the dance was confined to
Brahmins only, but now it is performed by people of other castes
as well.
Puppet
Dance
Puppets dance
known as Kandhei or Sakhi Nata, a rare and unusual type of stylised
indigenous drama and dance based on mythological stories, is
being performed today in various parts of Orissa. The puppets
are usually the representations of various characters and animals
of a particular drama. It is difficult to speak anything about
its origin but undoubtedly is an old art. The making of dolls
with paintings, dresses and ornaments is a typical folk art
for the enjoyment of people of all categories. Together with
puppets there evolved another art popularly known as the expressive
shadow plays which has the added advantage of being able to
cater to large audiences. The puppetry of Orissa may be classified
into three categories, such as hand puppets, string puppets
and rod puppets.
Krishna Leela
Associated with
the cult of Krishna leela has a deep religious flavour.People
in the village communities in certain parts of Orissa join in
singing and dancing to the accompaniment of mridanga and cymbals.
This is performed particularly on the occasion of Holi and Rasa
Purnima. Different episodes of Krishna legend are performed
in 'leela'. Through the chanting of songs and dancing to its
tune in accompaniment of the musical instruments a serene atmosphere
is created.
Ram
Leela
Rama Leela, a
very popular theatrical performance of Orissa as elsewhere in
India, being religious in character retains all its religious
significance. The theme of the performance is derived from Ramayana
. In some places the performers use masks and there are others
who do not use them. We have no information with regard to the
origin of this type of performance in Orissa but on the basis
of availability of vast mass of Rama literature in palmleaf
manuscripts, iconogrphic representation of Rama andhis associates
on the temple walls, presence of Hanuman images in various sacred
places, the popularity of Ramayana in folk and sophisticated
society, give a clear indication of continuity of the tradition
of Ramalila. The form of performance as we notice inthe coastal
belt of Orissa, is as old as other folk performances. Of course,
in the present day performance many other items of Jatra have
been incorporated to gain a mass appeal.
Tribal
Dances
The Tribals who
constitute about one fourth of the total population of Orissa
have very many dances of secular, religious and seasonal in character.
Living in the midst of nature their dances and songs are vivid,
temperamental and attuned to nature herself. Nature is always
the strongest inspiration for them, coupled with the customs and
religious heritage. The colourful spring time dance of the Santals
with their musical instrument, Madal performed by the maidens,
their pastoral dance during ripening of grain, the dance of the
Kolha at the time of planting of the seeds in honour of their
deity is performed by men and women, the dances of the Gonds done
in dedication to their deity Bhimsen at harvesting festival time,
marriage celebrations accompanied by several musical instruments
like the horned-drums, flutes and many clarions.
The spring dance
of the Bhattara with beautiful dresses, silver ornaments of
women, flushed as they move and the colourful turbans of the
men stuck with peacock feathers, the Sua dance of the Sambalpur
tribes performed by the young girls in the spirit of adventure
and romance accompanied by drummers and musicians, the ring
dance of the Oron performed during all festivals and in the
spring and autumn seasons in a circle, the women dancers placing
their arms at the back of their neighbours and clasping the
hands of the next, the courtship dances of Ho, the Jhadia paraja
dance exhibiting graceful movement and artistic skill, the colourful
dance of the Gadaba, the dance of the Koyas with the head-dress
of Bison horn, the women in colourful attire with iron sticks
in hands making a jingling sound in accompaniment of musical
instruments, the dance of the Kutal Kandha with the single stringed
dungadunga, the peacock, sparrow, vulture, deer dances of Juang
to the tune of their musical instrument, Changu and Badakatha,
and a wide variety of dances clearly give an idea how the culture
of the tribals born out of nature and attuned to nature can
live and flourish spontaneously. These are just a few representative
examples of the tribal dances of Orissa. The tribal dance itself
is vast in variety indicating their importance in the social
and religious life of the people.
Kedu
Dance
Kedu dance of
the Kondhas performed on the occasion of Kedu festival is a
continuance of Meriah festival. The meriah (human) sacrifice
of the Kondhas, a notable event in history and the most popular
tradition of the tribe perhaps surpassing others, has been substituted
by Kedu sacrifice retaining the other aspects of rituals as
they were. This dance is ritualistic in character connected
with the ceremony in honour of Dahrani penu who is believed
to be the bestower of good fortune, good crops, protector of
the people and their livestock. The people have the belief that
sprinkling of blood and blood stained face of Kedu (buffalo)
in the turmeric field reddens the colour of turmeric like blood.
In this performance women dancers standing in a semi circle
and holding each other in their hands on each other shoulder
while the male members sing songs and play on the drums and
flutes. The musical instruments used are Dhol, Changu, Nishan
and Mahuri and the songs in Kui language are mainly devotional.
Medha
Nacha
This is a mask-dance
most common during the religious processions in the coastal
districts of Orissa. During Dussehra, Dol Purnima (Holi), Kalipooja,
Rama Navami, Sahi Yatra and other festivals when the idols are
taken out in procession for congregation (Melan) or immersion
mask-dancers join the procession. The procession halts at market
places and road-crossings, thereby allowing to show their skill.
Huge masks of demons, Raja and Rani (King and the Queen) etc.
Made out of paper pulp and painted bright these masks are worn
by the dancers who dance to the rhythm of Changu and Dhol.
Patua
Jatra
Patua jatra,
similar to that of Pala, is a well known form prevalent among
the low caste people. The festival of Patua continues from the
23rd day of the month of Chaitra to the fifteenth day of Vaisakha
in honour of Goddess Gauri or Mangal. This festival dance organised
in honour of Sarala of Jahakada, Mangala of Kakatapur, Charchika
of Banki, Cuttack Chandi of Cuttack appears to have been meant
for Sakta Goddesses. The Kalisi or Saman of the deity is engaged
in times of epidemic and other natural calamity. The Patua's
songs depict the stories of Ramayana, Mahabharata and Puranas
and more recently the songs of the medieval and modern poets.
The simple songs so used is called pada bandia and the other
type artha bandia which is a jugglery of words conveying deeper
meaning. The traditional mirdanga has been adopted for the performance
of the second type. This is recently been influenced by the
Pala.
Pala
Dance
Pala, a very
popular performance associated with the mixed cult of Satyapir,
has wide distribution in Orissa. Its origin goes back to Muslim-mughal
period when asimilation of Satya Narayan of Hindu pantheon with
Pir of Muhammadanism, brought about a synthetic cult known as
'Satyapir'. This is an instance to show the inter-change of
cultural traits between Hindusim and Islam resulting in subduing
to a great extext the intolerance and anticism of Muslims. As
a consequence of this fusion the Hindus became the disciples
of the Muslim guru or Fakir and adopted worship pattern of some
Hindu deities and vice versa. Satyanarayan is an incarnation
of Vishnu, and Pir is an oldman or precept of Muslims who established
a religious sect at Persia. The Fakir considered to be the incarnation
of Satyapir, exercised a tremendous influence on the common
people of Muslim and Hindu sects. The propitiation of this deity
is intended for well-being of the people. A story with regard
to the origin of Satyapir is recorded in the Pala of Krishna
Haridas. According to this interesting story, king Maidanb's
virgin daughter Sandhyabati while taking a dip in the river,
saw a flower floating and by smelling it she became pregnant.
When her parents were aware of the fact, they took it a serious
offence and drove her away. Under orders from Satyapir still
in the womb, Hanila built a palace for Sandhyabati where she
gave birth to a ball of bloody flesh. She threw it away into
the river. A she-tortoise swallowed it up, gave birth to Satyapir
and went to heaven after death. Kusaleswar, the Purohit of Maidanab
brought him up with care. One day while taking a walk on the
bank of the river Nur, Satyapir found a manuscript of Koran.
The Brahmin asked him to keep that book in its former place
as it should not be touched by a sacred Brahmin. The boy argued
and concluded that there was no difference between a Purana
and Koran. Hinduism and Islam are not hostile to each other.
The cult of Satyapir is so popular in Orissan culture, the Puranas
and popular literature profusely mention it of the supernatural
powers endowed on the deity. We have two types of Pala in Orissa
- the Baithaki (sitting) and the Thia (standing). The Thia Pala
is taken to be the developed form of 'Danda Nata'. The group
of performers consisting of six persons including the Bayak,
or the drummer (playing on the Mrudanga) and the chief singer
known as Gayaka. The side singers with their cymbals sing and
dance explaining the meaning of the verses to the audience.
The performance begins with invocation to Satyanarayan followed
by the story of Puranas or epics embellished with poems of different
poets. The Pala songs are the compositions of the local poets
and recited in the appropriate places during the performance.
In a Pala performance, songs of various types in different styles
predominate the dance which on the other hand, is the expression
of simple rhythm to the tune of music. Pala is normally ritualistic
in character and is performed on the occasion of worship of
Satyanarayan but now-a-days it is performed on important festive
occasions. The performers, be it in an urban area or in the
folk area, draws a large audience. The interesting theme of
Pala, the lyrical diction of the poets exhibited in a charming
manner in melodious voice, the songs of humour with the use
of local dialects, the depiction of humorous story, the skillful
play of mridanga, the charming and colourful dress of Gayak
and palias make the audience spellbound.
Samprada
Dance
Samprada Dance
is also known as Bahaka Dance. This type of dance prevalent
in Western Orissa is a standardised performance of singing,
playing on the musical instrument which looks like Mridanga
but bigger in size and Jhanja locally known as (Kartal), and
dancing. The peculiarity of this performace is that the performer
displays his capability in gayana, badana and nartan. One cannot
be an expert performer in the Bahaka dance unless he acquires
adequate knowledge in these three aspects. The tuning of the
songs, the stepping movement of feet and rhythmic playing of
the musical instruments make the performance very interesting
and charming, Bhajan, Janana, Chhanda, Chaupadi and Sanskrit
slokas are recited while dancing. The main performer is assisted
by another player who is known as palia Bahaka. This type of
dance is generally arranged on social and festive occasions.
Ranappa
Dance
Popular among
the coastal areas of Ganjam district, this dance receives its
name after the bamboo sticks carried for support. The young
village dancers standing on the sticks, dance with utmost ease
and show remarkable skill in balance and agility to the accompaniment
of Dhol and Mahuri.
Paika
Nrutya
The word paika
is derived from the Sanskrit word Padatika meaning the infantry,
and hence the name of the dance battle (paika) dance (nrutya).
In olden days the powerful Ganga and Gajapati rulers of Orissa
extended their territory from the river Ganges in the north
to Godavari in the south with the help of a vast army of valiant
Paikas. They were not in the regular pay-role of the army, but
received huge land grants from the kings and the chieftains.
They formed the rank of a peasant-militia. Though agriculture
was their main occupation they used to keep themselves prepared
by regular practice and training in war techniques. Several
village-groups were under the command of a Dala Behera or group-commander.
Most of the Paika villages of Orissa, spread all over the state
have maintained the older tradition of Paika Akhada - the village
gymnasium where young people assemble in the evening after the
day's work. Alongwith traditional physical exercises, they dance
with sword and shield in hand to the accompaniment of the country-drum.
The primary aim of this dance was the development of physical
excitement and consequently courage, in the dancing warriors.
In ancient times this was unconsciously a rehearsal of battle.
During Dussehra all the Akhadas celebrate their annual festival.
In several prosperous villages display of traditional gymnastics,
acrobatics and the dance by various village-groups are arranged
on competitive basis. Each group participate with great enthusiasm.
For all such display special grounds are prepared with soft
earth sprinkled with oil and water. Needless to say that the
tradition of this dance carried throughout the contiguous tribal
belt of Mayurbhanj. Seraikela and Purulia, with free imbibition
of music and dances of the area has developed into a magnificent
dance-style of Indian called 'Chhau'. It is so called because
in Oriya it means 'Guerilla war' or 'to pounce upon the enemy
stealthily'. The other relative words are Chhauni (armour for
the chest); Chheuka, that hunts stealthily (called of cats and
dogs); Chhau mariba, to take a vault etc.
