Indian art, music, dance, sculpture, architecture and literature all have their deep roots in religion of the country. Dance is a path of Yoga- it is a spontaneous mode of achieving unity in consciousness. It leads to an ecstatic communion with God and to salvation.

ODISSI DANCE :

       Odissi dance is a typical classical dance form in Orissa, has its origin in the temples of Orissa. As the temples are the seats of cultural life in this state, Odissi form of classical dance has been closely connected with their day-to-day activities. Odissi dance is a peculiar form of Indian classical dance.The rhythm, Bhangis and Mudras used in Odissi dance have a distinctive style of their own. Odissi dance mainly deals with the theme of infinite love between Radha and Krishna. History provide evidences of the practice of  dedicating dancing girls to the temple in honour of Gods. Devadasis or dancing girls were dedicated to the temple  in Kashmir,Bengal, Orissa, Saurashtra, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Mysore, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The institution of Devadasis is now extinct everywhere except in Orissa. Devadasis in Orissa are known as Maharis, meaning mahat  naris . During the  rule of Chodagangadeva Devadasis were employed in the Jagannath temple. After  Chodagangadeva’s death Anangabhimadeva came  to power and built Natyamandapa of the Jagannath temple. It was intended for performance  of Maharias and the musicians inside the temple. There were two types of Maharis, the Bhitara Gani Maharis and Bahara Gani Maharis. Bhitara Gani Maharis were permitted to enter the innermost sanctum of the temple and sing during Badasingara while Bahara Gani  Maharis were allowed to dance in Natyamandapa .
 

Devadasis were the only ones who kept this dancing tradition alive for generations. The Maharis attached to Jagannath temples were all Vaishavites  while those attached to Lingaraj temple in Bhubaneswar were Saivites and  at Jhankada temple at Kakatpur were dedicated to Shakti.Before Gitagovinda was introduced, the Maharis used to dance only Nruttya(rhythmic) portion and Abhinayas with Mantras. But after Jayadev’s Gitagovinda   became a part and parcel of the rituals, the Maharis  performed Abhinaya with different Bhabas and rasas in tune with Gitagovinda.
 

Another exponent of Odissi dance Ray Ramananda, who  also a musician and  a dramatist taught dancing  to some boys and presented  this dance drama Jagannath Ballabha Nataka before Lord Chaitanya and convinced him that singing and dancing are also  forms of prayer. Then we find Gotipua system as Vaishavites did not approve  dancing by women. Boys dressed as girls began to dance and for the first time, Odissi dance came out of the temple of Lord Jagannath and began to be performed in public.
 

Odissi embraces Nrutya and Natya in different items of its repertoire which is as follows:
>> Mangacharana: This is a dance in which dancer dedicates  to the Lord and apologiges Mother earth for stamping her feet on her.
>> Stheyee Nrutya: This is an item of pure Nrutya. It begins with a series of poses.
>> Pallavi: Pallavi means elaboration. The movement of this dance is extreme graceful and lyrical.

>> Abhinaya:This is done through faial expression depicting rasa and bhaba with help of action of hands
>> Moksa Nrutya:It is the last item performed. This is item of pure Nrutya and is performed in fast tempo and the dancer becomes ecstatic and his/her mind and soul merges  with God.

       The Odissi dance, performed with the themes of Radha-Krishna, a piece from Geeta-Govinda, Dasavatar etc. The romantic dance forms can be seen in almost every cultural festivals of orissa particularly at Puri.

Music :

        There is a glorious tradition of music in Orissa. The  standard of music in Orissa during the earliest period  cannot be traced. From sixth century to eleventh century Orissa witnessed unprecedented cultural activities both in field of music and  architecture.. Poet Jayadeva composed Gitagovinda and  for the first time in Orissa lyrics were composed  by applying tune. Gitagovinda was performed by Devadasis  in temple in honour of Jagannath and  the  form of music which has been sung in the world famous Jagannath temple at sacred Puri-Dham  as a part of the temple services gradually took the form of traditional Odissi music as known today

        It is the most developed and systematized form among all the varieties of Orissan music existing now-a-days. Mostly it is performed in shape of Raga-Ksydrageeta-Prabandha-Gana, a form of Indian classical music evolved by the celebrated poet-singer Sri Jayadev.Jayadev ushered anew era in the history of Indian Classical music , which can be rightly identified as Jayadev music.This great composer, musician, a saint-poet of Orissa was a great devotee of Lord Jagannath. He was born in  first half of  the 13^th century A. D. in village Kenduli in Puri district. He gave a new shape, taste and  color to Indian classical music through his ever glittering and incomparable composition of GitagovindaThe ingredients of the classical music like  Raga-Tala-Geeta and  Chhanda of Jayadev was introduced in the services of temple of Lord Jagannath and  was accepted as temple music of Orissa.

      The poetic compositions of jayadev was so rich and superb that it had a perpetual influence on the composers of Orissa in the  medieval and even in modern period.  In course of time  Bhajan, Janana and Oriya songs under light classical groups were accepted as traditional music of Orissa.

      In Odissi, the  words used in Drutala (speedy rhymes) are called padis.Its use is the  special feature of Odissi music. Use of Navatala (nine rhymes) is also famous in Odissi music. Besides, Dasatala (ten rhymes) and Egaratala (eleven rhymes) are commonly used in Odissi music.