The worship of Murugan (later identified with Subramanya) and Mayon (Krishna) involved dancing. There were other dances associated with other deities like Siva, Durga, Indrani etc. Adiyarkkunallar (the famous commentator of the epic Silappadigaram) states that Krishna danced 10 kinds of dances – of which there is actual mention of 3 in the epic – alliyakuttu, malladal and kudakuttu – danced on the occasion of his victory over Kamsa, Banasura and after the release of Aniruddha. Siva is said to have danced the kodukotti and pandurangam dances after tripuradhana in the presence of Brahma, his charioteer. Murugan danced the tudi after the exposure of surasura. Kamadeva danced the dance of Hermaphrodite, Durga the dance of marakkal after vanquishing the asuras. Similarly Lakshmi danced the pavai after her victory over the asuras, Indrani the kadayam after the defeat of Banasura.
(Kanak Rele, in chapter “History of Kerala – Its Theatrical Arts and Mohiniattam” in “Mohiniattam: The Lyrical Dance”)

Innumerable inscriptions from Chola times tell us of the philanthropy of Devadasis. They erected new shrines, rebuilt old and crumbling ones, plated some of the roofs with copper, gold and brass. They commissioned master sculptors to make gold and bronze images of gods, goddesses and saints to be installed in temples. Devadasis, who had specific roles to play in the festivals and processions of temples, donated lands to ensure these celebrations. The wealthier Devadasis donated jewellery, lamps, plates and bells made of solid gold for temple service.
(‘Women of Pride: The Devadasi heritage’ by Lakshmi Viswanathan)

Chali nach of Sattriya is a soft and graceful dance based on purely lasya style of dancing. The concept of this dance is based on the devadasi style of dancing that prevailed in the Hayagriva Madhava Vaishnava shrine during the mediaeval period. Chali nach is of 2 types - Suddha Chali and Rajaghariya Chali. The Suddha Chali is the standard form of dance number evolved by Madhavadeva and Rajaghariya Chali is a divergent one evolved subsequently by Sattra institutions.
(‘Sattriya dance: Technique and repertoire’ by Jagannath Mahanta, Nartanam, April-June 2013)


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