Different gods, different images

Subashini Pathmanathan

Ananda Thandavam is the symbol of Bharatha Natyam. In Bharatha Natyam a quite number of Thandava Karanas are very often adopted and interwoven in-between the dances. There are altogether 108 Thandava Karanas in Bharatha Natyam. Similarly even in Kuchipudi a variety of Lord Nataraja images are adopted for dance. Bharatha Natyam, Kuchipudi and Odissi use more poses of different gods which are based on Saivaism Sakthism and Vishnavaism. Saivaism means that Lord Shiva is the main and foremost.

Meanwhile Sakthism consider Goddess Sakthi is the main God. But Kathakali, Kathak, Manipuri and Mohini Attam are more or less based on Vaishnava cult and Vaishnavaism. Vaishnavaism in Hinduism means that the sect or the followers who believe and follow Lord Vishnu and his ten incarnations are the supreme and main God. All the Indian dances are deeply rooted in the Hinduism, Hindu culture and Hindu civilization.

Among all the Indian classical dance forms, the classical dance form of East Indian province of Orissa is Odissi. The word Orissa derived its name from Orda Desa. Natyasastra of Bharata Muni is the basic source of Indian and South East Asian dances. Like all the Indian classical dance forms, Odissi dance form is also based on Natyasastra and Hindu mythology. This is found in various sculptures, paintings and inscriptions. The great Jain emperor Karavela was a great dancer and an accompanist musician.

Cultural survival

Due to his keen interest in dance and music, he himself arranged numerous music and dance festivals. In the history of Orissa, due to certain political changes and instability, the cultural survival and customs of the State were invariably affected.

The 6th century A.D was a steady period for the cultural progress of Orissa. During the 7th century, for the first time the dancing deity lord Nataraja (Shiva) temple was built in Orissa. The image of lord Nataraja found in Orissa differs from the image of lord Nataraja found in South Indian States.

South Indian image of lord Nataraja is portrayed with four arms. But in Orissa, different poses of lord Nataraj are depicted differently. The total number of arms of lord Nataraj differs differently in different places and temples. The total number of arms varies from two to ten. This is evidenced by different Nataraj statues, temple paintings and temple sculptures depicted differently all over Orissa.

Dancing poses

This could be seen in the famed Bhuvanesvar temple, Konarak temple and Jaganath temple of Puri. These temples depict and portray a variety of different avatars(incarnations ) of Lord Nataraj. Beside the dancing poses of Lord Nataraj, dancing images of Lord Ganesha, and dancing images of Lord Krishna are beautifully carved in the Jagannath temple and various other shrines scattered all over the State of Orissa.

The famed Konarak temple which is described as citadel of oriental architecture provides a wealth of feast for the eyes through the carved dancing figures and musicians. Dance and music were developed in and around the temples and environs.

Performing dance in the temple became a part of the temple rituals.

There are plenty of descriptive information in various inscriptions. Though this tradition was discontinued in many of the temples, yet it continued to flourish in the Jaganarth temple in Puri till recently.The dancing girls of Orissa were known as Maharis like the devadasi of Tamil Nadu. They enjoyed considerable status and honor in the society in the early days. During the temple rituals persons were engaged to arrange the services of Maharis systematically. Ray Ramananda, one of the ministers of King Prataparudara was an outstanding exponent of Odissi dance and music. He dedicated his life to spread the Vaishnava cult and Vaishnava philosophy through fine arts.

Female dancers

After the period of Minister Ray Ramananda, the Vaishnava public rejected the female dancers because of their malpractices of Maharis who lost their reputation in society. Later males were encouraged to dance in temples. These males dressed themselves as females and danced during the temple rituals and festivals. The male dancers were called Gothipuas.

They mainly danced for beautiful Vaishnava songs and lyrics. Despite the ill reputation of Maharis they continued to perform in the temples to some extent.