Dissertation

CONTENTS

0.0 INTRODUCTION
0.01 Introducing the subject
0.02 Aims & Objectves
0.03 Importance of the study
0.04 Methodology
0.05 Review of literature
Chapter-I
1.0 Origin of sattriya dance
Chapter-II
2.00 Chali dance
2.01 Suddha chali or Pure Chali dance
2.02 Rajaghariya chali dance
Chapter-III
3.00 Costume & Instruments
Chapter-IV: CONCLUSION

BIBLIOGRAPHY

CHAPTER-I
1.00 ORIGIN OF SATTRIYA DANCE

Sattriya dance is one of the 8 major form of Indian classical

dance created by the Vaishnava saint and reformer Srimanta
Sankardeva(1449-1568) , in the late 15th or early 16th century
through Ankiya naat.
The Neo-vaishnava or Bhakti movement was formed in
assam in the 15th and 16th century under the leadership of
Sankardeva. This movement initiated a revolution in almost
all aspects of religion, society, literature, music, sculpture etc.
of assam and brought about a renaissance in the society and
culture of assam. Sattriya dance is the result of this
devotional movement. At the age of 21, Sankardeva
introduced this dance with the first ChihnaYatra. After his
death, the satras became the centre of the religion of Bhakat
Vaishnava. They practices the ankiya naat, songs, dances,
instruments etc. within the Satra. Thus the dance form was
preserved by the Satras over time. That’s why this dance is
called SATTRIYA DANCE.

CHAPTER-II
2.00 CHALI DANCE
Chali dance is the creation of Madhavdeva. It is mention in
the Charit Puthi that, Madhavadeva built “Rongial Griha” in
Barpeta satra and performed this dance taking some young
boys dressed as natuwa(dancer). The boys were dressed as
girls and given proper training to perform this dance. The
dance is believed to have been named on the basis of the
word ‘Chali’ applied by Sankardeva to mohini’s graceful
dance as ‘Pindhi saaree khonta jali, jen moira dhore chali’ in
the Harmohan of Kirtan. In the several sattras of purusa
samhati like Bordowa there is a tradition of applying the
name Cali to all lasya dances of women characters. In some
satras, there is a bhangi nach as a Chali-bhangi. However,
theories have also emerged that Madhavdeva took this
dance pattern from the Devadasi dance that was prevalent in
the Hayagriv Madhav temple in Hajo at that time. Later, due
to the creation of the Rajaghariya Chali dance by the satras,
this chali dance created by Madhavdeva began to be called
Shuddha or Pure Chali dance. Chali dance is usually
performed in the Uttar Kamalabari satra, Natun Kamalabari
satra, Purani Kamalabari satra in the tithis of the gurus. This
dance is an independent Sattriya group dance. “The symbolic
significance of this type of dance seems to have been drawn
from the stunt of the peacock. Cali means spreading out the
long feathery tail of the peacock or any other such bird.
When monsoon comes, the peacock dances up in joy.
Likewise, this dance is symbolic as a comparison of the
emotional relationship between the devotee and his lord
with that between the excited peacock and monsoon cloud.
A description of the Cali nac is also found in the Sangit-
damodara by Sarangadeva and in the Govinda-sangita-lila-
vilasa by king Bhagya Chandra Sinha of Manipur.
The cali dance is very lasya. The organ movements of
this dance are soft and vibrant. The sattra cali dances are 8 in
numbers. “The sattra cali dance are said to be eight in
number; but actually one differs from another mainly in the
ramdani, which employs eight different talas. Only ektal and
porital are used in the ga-nac. The ramdani are divided into
four groups: Saru ramdani, bor ramdani, kalakatiya and
Hajowaliya. This dance is sometimes known as Natuwa nac
also”.
Chali dance is generally devided into two main
categories: Suddha(pure) chali and Rajaghariya chali. The
suddha chali dance is again divided into three parts. Such as-
Ramdani,Geetor and Mela nach. On the other hand,
Rajaghariya chali dance is divided into only two parts. Such
as- Ramdani and Geetor. There are total of 12 chali dance. 8
of them are called suddha chali and 4 are called Rajaghariya
chali.

2.01 Suddha chali (Pure chali)

The suddha chali dance is the creation of Madhavdeva.
There are 3 main parts of this chali dance- Ramdani, Geetor
and Mela. Again there are eight Ramdani of pure chali nach.
Among the 8 , the first two are Hajowaliya, the 3rd and 8th are
Bar-ramdani, the 4th and 7th are Kalakatiya and the 5th and 6th
are named as Saru-ramdani. The name Kalakatiya is derived
from the fact that Madhavdeva made while he was in
Kalakata, but there is no mention of why the name
Hajowaliya came to be. There are Hajowali songs and
Hajowali Bajana in the Garmur Satra and that name is said to
be due to the learning of Hajo.

Presentation style:
The first parts of Pravesa(entrance) of all Ramdani is Pranam
Bhangi. This pranam bhangi is performed with the help of
avatara mastaka, udvestita, alapadma hasta, kunchita pad,
kapota, griva-bhangi etc. The tala of this Pravesar nac is
‘Thukani’. The music of the next part is chuta and Ek taal.
Only Bandha raga is used in the sections of the songs sung in
this nac. Usually the songs of the borgeet or naator geet are
in the melaraag. Since bandha raag is used in chali dance. So
the songs used here change tone, rhythm etc. For example,
the song ‘Priyakeri kahini huniye murari’ is originally in the
ragas of Emat kalyan, Basanta and Sri Gandhar in bandha
raag instead of being in dhanashree raga. The tala used in
gitas are ek taal and pori taal. The tala has 3 parts such as:
Ga-man, Ghat and Chok. However, chok is played at the end
of the dance. It is worth mentioning that the speed of playing
in the chok part is intensified and speed of the dance is also
seen to be fatser. Dances with songs are very simple. In the
drubapada part of the songs, instead of performing dance
the natowa takes his seat in the gadurasnas posture.
Moreover, in the portion of ga-man there are so much dance
is performed and the natuwas continue to take seat in the
gadurasana position. But, the natuwa maintains the tala of
the song with the help of leseri bhariman. The suddha cali
nach is performed only with the ghat of khol. Earlier abhinaya
is not performed in this song, but at the present time it has
been observed that certain sections have input abhinaya with
the songs.
The Ragas and songs used in Suddha chali dance are:
 Song Raag
1. Priyakeri kahini Emat kalyan, Basanta, Sri
huniye murari Gandhar
2. Hariku agu radha Raamgiri
anjuri juri maage
3. Hori hori kina veli Paraj
raajkumari
4. Haripada pekhoye Borari
nopawoli mayi
5. shyam muruti pito sarath
ambaru lasa
6.
7.
8.
9.
2.02 Rajaghariya chali

Rajaghariya chali dance is the creation of the

Kamalabari satra. In the tradition of sattriya dance, the 4no.
of Rajaghariya dance have 4no. of Ramdani. The main aim of
Sattriya dance is to propagate bhakti dharma. This dance has
been accepted by both the royals and layman. Thus, the
Kamalabari satra shaped this nach with the objectives to
make it presentable and entertaining at the royal courts as
well as the common people. This sattra oriented dance
originally created by Madhavdeva gradually came to be
known as Rajaghariya chali nach. The word Rajaghariya
proves that this dance was created only to listen to the floor
of the king’s house.
There is hardly any difference between suddha cali and
Rajaghariya calin ach. In Sudha chali dance, the musical
instrument played is khol, whereas, in the Rajaghariya chali
nach the musical instrument played is mridangam. There is
relaxation of rules in performing Rajaghariya chali nach
compared to the suddha chali dance. The Rajaghariya cali
nach has its own 4 ramdani and in Rajaghariya cali dance, the
artist must performs without giving a pause or break.