Social practices, Rituals and Festive events
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Odissi
Odissi dance is the typical classical dance form of Orissa and has its origin in the temples. The rhythm, the 'bhangis' and 'mudras' (artistic postures) used in Odissi dance have a distinctive quality of their own. Odissi dance deals largely with the love theme of Lord Radha and Lord Krishna. This dance tradition was kept alive by the 'Devadasis'. Those who were attached to the Jagannath Temple were all Vaishnavitcs and those at Bhubaneswar were attached to Shaivite temples. Before the introduction of the Gitagovinda in temples, the devadasi used to dance to the recitation of hymns and bols of talas. But after Gitagovinda became part and parcel of the rituals, then devadasis performed the dance with different 'bhavas' and 'rasas' (emotions)