Ancient World of India

Ancient World of India

Work Cited

“Culture And Heritage - Ancient History.” Know India: National Portal of India, knowindia.gov.in/culture-and-heritage/ancient-history.php.

Mark, Joshua J. “Ancient India.” Ancient History Encyclopedia, Ancient History Encyclopedia, 29 Oct. 2018, www.ancient.eu/india/.

“Odissi: The Classical Dance of Orissa!” Dance - History, Repertoire, Costumes & Dancers, www.culturalindia.net/indian-dance/classical/odissi.html.

October 31st, 2018

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“You Won't Be Able To Watch This Death-Defying Religious Ritual Without Gasping.” The Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 26 Feb. 2014, www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/25/indian-baby-dropping-baba-umer-durga_n_4855819.html.

Dancing Odissi truly encompasses many different steps

“An invocation followed by nritta, nritya, natya, and moksha. The invocation called Mangalacharana is performed followed by offering of flowers called Pushpanjali and salutation to mother earth referred as Bhumi Pranam. Next in line is performance of Batu or Batuka Bhairava or Battu Nrutya or Sthayee Nrutya which is pure dance or nritta dedicated to Lord Shiva It is performed only on rhythmic music without any recitation or singing. The next part is nritya that encompass expressional dance or Abhinaya to communicate a story, song or poetry through hand gestures or mudras, emotions or bhavas and eye and body movements. The next part natya includes a dance drama based on Hindu mythological texts and epics. An Odissi performance is concluded with the dance movement referred as Moksha that aims to communicate a feeling of emancipation of the soul.”

Rebirth of Odissi

The indian community pushed back against the anti-dance ban and in the early 20th century there was a revival of indian culture and traditions.

Kavichandra Kalicharacn Patanayak is creadited with coining the name Odissi

Odissi as We Know it

In the 17th century Odissi became much more popular. Boys begun getting trained in the odissi along with martial arts training. Odissi was traditionally taught just to girls. Gotipuas were boys and youth that were trained in Odissi from an early age. Odissi was used in order to prepare for the military or combat foreign invasions . During british colonial rule in the 18th and 19th century there was a decline of classical dance forms. An anti-dance movement was enacted by the Christian Missionaries in 1892.

In 1910 dancing in Hindu temples was banned all together.

Places Odissi has been Found

Buddhist icons like marichi, Haruka, and Vajravarchi have been carved in poses that depict Odissi.Elaborate instructions of feet and hand movements are found in the Hindu dance text such as Abhinaya Darpana and Abhinaya Chandrika. The famous Jagannath Temple in peru depicts Odissi dance

Video of Odissi Dance

Ancient India: Dancing

History of Odissi

The roots of the dance can be traces back to the ancient Sanskrit Hindu text called ‘Natya Shastra’ which works with different performing arts.The dance is broken up into two forms; “nritya” which stresses expression and “nrita” which focuses heavily on hand movements and gestures.Paintings depicting the dance have been found in caves dating back to around 1000 BCE

Odissi or Orissi is one of the pre-eminent classical dance forms of India. Originated in the Hindu temples of the eastern coastal state of Odisha in India. It is associated with Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism.

-themes taken from Vaishnavism other god(desses) associated with the Hindu faith

It depicts religious stories, devotional poems, and spiritual ideas through precise body movements, expressions, gestures, and sign language

Coming of Age Rituals

In Hinduism coming of age generally signifies that a boy or girl is mature enough to understand his responsibility towards family and society. Hinduism also has the sacred thread ceremony, called Upanayana for Dvija (twice-born) boys that marks their coming of age to do religious ceremonies. Girls often celebrate their coming to age by having a ceremony called a Ritushuddhi, upon receiving her first menstruation cycle. This ceremony includes dressing them in a sari, and announcing their maturity to the community.

Childhood Rituals

Annaprassana: this ceremony takes place after six months when eating real food rather than breast milk. is believed to be necessary for the baby to become more mobile.

Created by:

Isis Brinson

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Chuda Karma: the hair cutting ceremony (removal of scalp hair) is performed at any stage depending on family tradition.

Introduction to Birth

Ceremonies may be performed during pregnancy to ensure the health of the mother and growing child. The father may part the hair of the mother three times upward from the front to the back, to assure the ripening of the embryo. Charms may serve to ward off the evil eye and witches or demons. At birth, before the umbilical cord is severed, the father may touch the baby's lips with a gold spoon or ring dipped in honey, curds, and ghee. The word "vak"(speech) is whispered three times into the right ear, and mantras are chanted to ensure a long life.

Ancient India: Religion

Birth Rituals

Jatakarma: this ceremony welcomes the child into the family. The father touches and smells the child and whispers religious verses (Mantras) into the ears of the infant. All this is to promise the baby a safe and comfortable environment.

Karnavedha: this refers to the ear piercing ceremony. Although usually carried out after the age of 3 years in most castes, there are some families where a father will not see the baby’s face after birth until certain rituals have been performed, including ear piercing.

Namakarana: the name is selected in such a way as to inspire the child to follow a righteous path. According to Hindu scriptures, a boy’s name should have an “even” number of syllables and a girl’s name an “odd” number. The naming ceremony takes place on the tenth or twelfth day after birth, a time when the mother is considered “clean” in order to carry out normal household chores, such as cooking

Hinduism is one of the world's oldest religions, having a billion followers, which makes it the world's third largest religion. The religion is originated in India around 1500 B.C.E. It all began when the Aryans bought their religion to India. They believe in the law of cause and effect, following the path of righteousness, and the desire for liberation from the cycle of births to deaths.

Pregnancy Rituals

Garbadhana: (the fetus laying ceremony) is performed at the consummation of the marriage. It involves special prayers for fulling parental duties.

Punsavana : (male making) rite is performed during the third month of pregnancy, in the belief that the “deity” governing the sex of the fetus is activated.

Simmanantannaya :also known as Valaiakappu in some parts of India involves the wearing of red or green glass bangles from the seventh month of gestation. The sound of these bangles is believed to reach the womb and comfort the fetus.