Description :Singing and dancing as an essentiall part of ritual services appear to have developed with the growth of temples and Shaivism in Orissa and the cult is at least 12 centuries old as is evident from inscriptions. In the temple of Jagannath at Puri dancing girls were first appointed for the essential ritual services of the deity by Anantavarma Chodagangadeva in 11th century AD.All the female attendants of the temple are known as maharis. The dancing girls are known as nachuni (female dancer) and the others are bhitara gauni(female singers of the inner apartment) bahara gauni (female singers who perform outside the temple), and gaudasani (those whose duty it is to fan the Lord). At present there are a few old mahiiris in Puri who still serve in the temple. They are no more interested in continuing the tradition. The daughters they adopted are getting married and taking up other professions-teaching, nursing, etc. Maharis popularly known as dari (darika) or prostitute, they not only dance in temples but also dance in social, religious and festive occasions. In some other parts of Orissa they were known as guni but gunis had no connection with the temples. They used to dance and sing during festivals or in the courts of rajas and zamindars.
Source :Sangeet Natak Akademi
Type :Article
Received From :Sangeet Natak Akademi
DC Field
Value
dc.contributor.author
Patnaik, D. N.
dc.date.accessioned
2017-07-05T03:43:56Z
dc.date.available
2017-07-05T03:43:56Z
dc.date.issued
1990
dc.description.abstract
Singing and dancing as an essentiall part of ritual services appear to have developed with the growth of temples and Shaivism in Orissa and the cult is at least 12 centuries old as is evident from inscriptions. In the temple of Jagannath at Puri dancing girls were first appointed for the essential ritual services of the deity by Anantavarma Chodagangadeva in 11th century AD.All the female attendants of the temple are known as maharis. The dancing girls are known as nachuni (female dancer) and the others are bhitara gauni(female singers of the inner apartment) bahara gauni (female singers who perform outside the temple), and gaudasani (those whose duty it is to fan the Lord). At present there are a few old mahiiris in Puri who still serve in the temple. They are no more interested in continuing the tradition. The daughters they adopted are getting married and taking up other professions-teaching, nursing, etc. Maharis popularly known as dari (darika) or prostitute, they not only dance in temples but also dance in social, religious and festive occasions. In some other parts of Orissa they were known as guni but gunis had no connection with the temples. They used to dance and sing during festivals or in the courts of rajas and zamindars.
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