I connect the morning and evening Mahari ritual performance with the Odissi repertoire.
Morning Ritual Mahari and Pallavi-Batu in Odissi
Sakhala Dhupa is the morning ritual performance of the Mahari in which she performs pure dance based on rhythmic accompaniment. The traces of this ritual can be seen in the Odissi repertory, especially, in the Pallavi or elaborations on a melodic cycle and in the Batu or the fundamentals of musical accompaniment and ornamentation in Odissi.
This is my Guru Sujata Mohapatra’s live performance of Hamsadhwani Pallavi elaborating upon Raga Hamsadhwani. The choreography is by Kalecharan Mohapatra, father-in-law and Guru of Sujata Mohapatra.
Here, Sujata Mohapatra performs Batu for national television that has further been edited for its publishing on Youtube.
Evening Ritual Mahari and Gitagovinda Abhinaya in Odissi
The evening ritual performance of the Mahari is called Pahuda Alati during which she performed to the lyrics of the Gitagovinda. Gitagovinda, poet Jayadeva’s lyrical ballad describing the celestial love affair between Radha and Krishna holds central importance in Odissi dance.
Odissi maestro Kelucharan Mohapatra is well known for his brilliant compositions of the Ashtapadis or the eight versed songs from the Gitagovinda. In the above video, he is performing to Kuru Yadu Nandana, which is the last Ashtapadi. Here Radha is requesting Krishna to adorn her with her ornaments that have given away due to their violent love-play.
This song has been repeated by senior artists in the field of Odissi.
The above is the depiction of the same Ashtapadi by Odissi dansuse Madhavi Mudgal for national television.
The above is a rendition by a US based male Odissi dancer, Vishnu Tattva Das in live performance.