MAHARI FESTIVAL
BHUBANESWAR, ODISHA, INDIA
MARCH 17 ~ 19 2018
At this year's Mahari Festival, Ratna Roy will receive the Parampara Award for being the inheritor and eldest teacher of the rare Mahari style of Classical Indian Dance.
It is the first time in history that this award has been given for the Mahari style of Classical Odissi Dance in the Guru Pankaj Charan Das lineage, the man who was the very first Odissi Guru.
Moria was invited by Guru Roy to perform as she receives her award. The performance will showcase the foundational dance of Guru Charan Das.
Guru Roy is one of the few teachers still alive to have studied directly under the Maharis themselves. These women, known as devadasis, were the sacred temple dancers of the Jagannath Temple in Odisha.
Moria is a member of Urvasi Dance Ensemble, an Odissi Indian Classical Temple Dance troupe founded and directed by Guru Roy, professor and Lifetime Achievement Award recipient in the field of the preservation and continuation of the Mahari style of Odissi Classical Indian Dance.
A powerful and beautiful women’s dance tradition, the Mahari style of Odissi dance was crushed in the 20th century.
Characterized by the blending of spirituality and sensuousness as well as the extremely lasya ("supremely graceful and smooth") upper torso movement, Mahari dance themes are woman-centered, whether it be the Mother Goddess herself or famous women from the epics of India.
Ratna Roy and Moria Chappell boarding flight for India.
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