The classical dance-form from Orissa is Orissi. Bit like the word, it is simple, refreshing and poetic. Lyrical, sensuous and fluid too. The history and heritage of Orissi is vast, covering two centuries of rulers and practitioners who added and enhanced the body-work of the form found first in inscriptions and temple carvings, including in tantric yogini cult.
This the first-ever in depth, authoritative and scholarly account on the intricate and extensive heritage and history of the form and of the rulers and kings who embellished it and the pioneering gurus and dancers who polished it to shine like a perfectly chiselled gem it is today.
The story of Orissi is the story of the performing arts of Orissa for it is one form in which music, dance and drama coalesce. Its connections with the temples and the courts, the dancers and the gurus can be traced and has been traced in this historical document.
The four pillars of the form—gurus all—Pankaj Charan Das, Kelucharan Mahapatra, Deba Prasad Das and Mayadhar Raut, have been profiled at length because to them we owe the revival and survival of Orissi as we see it today Principal exponents and stars and some prominent students too feature in this book.
This book with over 400 illustrations, spread over 340 pages, took ten years to complete and is the most definitive account of the form. This is the last book the pioneering scholar, dance-historian and collector Late Prof. Mohan Khokar wrote and left unfinished. His son and successor, Ashish Khokar, has helped complete it.
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