Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 2020 - 52

One-sided Hairstyle
Earrings, Thoda Jhmiki
Pallu/ Odhni
Blouse, Choli
Gold Lakshmi Belt
Circular Fan

Red Marking on Feet, Parani
Mohiniyattam dancer Vijayalakshmi Shivaji. | Photo Courtesy of Avinash Pasricha

motifs in keeping with the sculptural
designs, at times creating the illusion
of a sculpture springing to life" (Kothari
and Pasricha 1990, 68). The costume
is distinctly Orissan in flavor with the
use of yarn-dyed Orissa Ikat, Bomokai,
and Sambalpuri sari-based costumes,
silver-crafted ornaments, and grass reed
or Shola headdresses (Lynton, 2002,
95-115).
One can observe the style of the modern costume in a 17th century illustration
from the manuscript of the Gita Govinda,
depicting the Rasa Lila from Orissa
(Kothari and Pasricha 1990, 8). The image illustrates a male dancer in a pleated
or striped dhoti, and female dancers in
kachcha style sari, with generous pleated
odhni/dupatta trailing in the back. Jewelry
consists of large earrings, armbands,
wristbands or wide bracelets, combination of short and long necklaces and
nose rings, and a headdress. However,
this headdress does not appear to be as
sculptural or large as modern ones. This
particular image doesn't allow for textile
interpretation, yet it appears quite close in
style to the modern version.
More recent images, from the 1940s
and '50s, of dancing gotipuas indicate
a dhoti-style draped sari rather than a

tailored costume (Kothari 1979, 10). The
headdress and the jewelry appear very
similar to ones used by Odissi dancers
now. Some scholars and audience members dislike the use of the large headgear because it overwhelms the visuals
of the body, making the body look much
smaller and the head larger in proportion. As noted earlier, how and what a
dancer chooses as a costume depends
both on tradition and personal interpretation. Thus, a dancer may be drawn to a
larger overly decorated headdress while
not being fully aware of how it changes
the proportions of the body. Outstanding
dancers, however, choose simplicity and
understated elegance.
Odissi costume
Contemporary Odissi costumes almost
always consist of a tailored dhoti, an
asymmetric pleated fan set starting at the
left side front. A blouse and odhni scarf
covers the upper body. Some dancers as
seen in Nilanjana Banerjee's photo on
page 50 use an odhni scarf of the same
fabric as the rest of the costume. In many
cases, Odissi dancers experiment with
a translucent scarf. This allows for ingenuity in blouse designs, like in Protima
Gauri Bedi's costume where underneath

52 | THEATRE DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY | SUMMER 2020

the dupatta, one can see a chevron pattern in the blouse (see Kothari and
Pasricha 1990, 52). The fabrics used are
Ikats-Bomokais and Sambalpuri materials from Orissa, which have brilliant colors in the body-juxtaposed with delicate
patterns in contrast colors, and tiny white
details on the borders. The female dancer
wears the blouse, kanchula, with drawstring dhoti pants allowing for leg movement. The pleated fan, jhoba, is different
from Bharatanatyam in its asymmetric
shape with the longer side on the dancer's
right. This allows for the pleats to cascade
down, mirroring the iconic Tribhanga
stance. The seat, nibibandha, defines the
hips, much like Bharatanatyam costumes'
seat but is slightly asymmetric to complement the asymmetric fan. The scarf on
the torso draws a compact asymmetric
line also like that of Bharatanatyam.
Hair style and accessories in Odissi
The women's costume uses the iconic
circular white headdress, pushpchura,
made of grass stem called Shola. This
piece is evocative of the temple architecture's steeple-like Shikhara. This soft pulp
is intricately sculpted with a central peak
that complements the dark hair and circular head shape. The earpiece of shola
consists of the upper earlobe piece called
the bakula kalika and a lower ear and
dangling piece called kapa. Shola pith is
a popular handicraft material from the
Puri region of Orissa, derived from the
soft stem of a wild growing water plant,
Aeschymene Aspera (see Ranjan and
Ranjan 2009, 214). The pith of this plant
is carved for ornamental sculptural items
frequently in the eastern region of India.
The dancer often wears a silver hair chain
framing the hairline, and all dancers draw
focus to the face with red and white bindi,
called alaka tilak, and kohl-lined eyes.
The use of white in the bindi often has a
sculptural design and mirrors the white
accents in the rest of the costume.
The waist is defined with a triple-layered silver coin belt called bengapatti. The
airy texture of the belt is different from
the stiff gold belt used in Bharatanatyam.
Similar armlets, tayita, and wristlets, bahuchuri, embellish the arms. The long
necklace, amalaki or sasarpi, draws linear
focus to the body with the shorter necklace, chapasarika, helping accentuate the
neck and its movements. Silver anklets
called cha puari, in addition to ankle bells,

Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 2020

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