About Sattriya:
Sattriya is the 500 years old traditional dance drama form and ritualistic practices associated with Lord Krishna centered Vaishnavism monasteries or Sattras (literally meaning Holy areas). It evolved and expanded as a distinctive style of dance later on. The great vaishnava saint Mahapurukh Shrimanta Shankardeva developed Sattriya dance as an accompaniment to the Ankia Naat (a form of Assamese one-act plays) by collaborating major elements of different Indian classical dance forms with existing local dance forms of Assam with his own unique creation. It was originally performed as a part of religious ritual. It narrates stories from myths and religious scriptures. As the tradition developed and grew within the Sattras, the dance form came to be known as Sattriya Nritya.
Sattriya is different from other classical dance forms because of its unique charm and grace, which evocatively imbue it with the bhakti rasa. At the very beginning, it is bounded only for the inmates of sattra’s. But for the invocation of changeable time, approximately from the middle of 19th century, it came out from the Vaishnav Sattras to the modern stage. In the year 2000 (on 15 November), Sangeet Natak Academy, India recognized Sattiya Dance as a classical dance form with other 7 classical dances of India.
The primary and fundamental features of Sattriya Dance is Ora, which distinguishes it from other Indian classical dance forms. There are mainly two types, name as Purukh (Male) Ora and Prakriti (Female) Ora. Starting from the Mati-Akhora (the structural grammer of Sattriya Dance) it is further divided into many genres such as Juruma, Nadu-bhangi, Chali Naas, Rojaghoriya Chali, Gopi Naas, Bahar Naas, Goxai Prabesh, Dasavatar, Sutradhari Naas etc. Among them these are recognized as “Tandava” (Male Dance form) and “Laishya’ (Female Dance form). Where Laishya characterized as gracefulness and elegance, and Tandava marked as vigor and majestic beauty.
Sattriya dance consists of three distinct parts – Ramdani, Geetor Naas and Mela Naas. Every single dance style has special mnemonic bols.
Sattriya dance is accompanied by musical components called Bargeet, composed by Shreemanta Shankar Deva and Shreemanta Madhab Deva, which are based on classical raags, instruments used are Khol (drums), Taal (cymbals), Flute. Some newly added instruments are like Violin, Taanpura and Harmonium. Sattriya costumes are usually made of Assam Silk (Paat); ornaments too are based on traditional Assamese design.
About Sankardeva:
The great Saint Mohapurukh Sankardeva was born in the 15th century in Bardowa, in Nagaon district of Assam in the respected kingdom of the Bhuyans. He was made the “Gomosta”, a royal designate to rule. However, from the very sunrise of his life, Sankardeva was believed to have come with a different mission in his life. At a very tender age, after completing basic education, he went on a pilgrimage across many holy places in India and was moved by the religious and cultural diversity. He developed a strong connect towards the prayers and closeness to the Almighty. By returning from those yatras, he first started writing Geet, Naat and Nritya. At that time, Nava Vasihnav Dharma (Neo Vaishnavism) was getting prominence in other parts of the country. Shri Sankardeva was also influenced by its ethos and hence he pioneered the principles of “Vaishnav Dharma” in the North-Eastern region of India, primarily in the state of Assam. He utilized his creations of Nritya, Geet, Bhaona and other literature to ingrain the Vaishnavite cult among the people. “Hari Naam” or “Kirttan” was preached as the only way to reach the blessing of Lord Vishnu. With the passage of time, his creations and thoughts started to appeal to other saintly people and apparently to the masses who flocked in many numbers to join him. It also took the form of a revolution in itself, where the practice of Sattriya culture had become the way of life. Thus, Mahapurush Sankardeva was able to unite the people from their diverse evil paths into the ways of Vaishnav cult.
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