Sattriya

Sattriya, also called Sattriya Nritya, is the classical dance of Assam. It grew up in the Vaishnava monasteries called sattras and is one of eight on the Sangeet Natak Akademi's classical list.

The dance took shape in the Ankiya Nat, one-act devotional plays of song, dance and dialogue by Srimanta Sankaradeva (1449 to 1568 in most sources), who began the neo-Vaishnava movement in Assam. The sattras grew from the movement's devotee assemblies after Sankaradeva's death, under his successors, and their monks (bhakats) danced every role, women's parts included. Sattriya first reached a modern stage in 1922, and men and women from outside the sattras now perform it. The Akademi listed it on 15 November 2000. Indira P.P. Bora and Jatin Goswami received the Akademi's award for Sattriya in 1996 and 2004.

Dancers move to Borgeet, devotional songs by Sankaradeva and Madhavadeva set to ragas (melodic frameworks), with the khol, a two-headed barrel drum played with the fingers, and hand cymbals. Training starts with mati akhara, ground exercises that build stances, turns, gaits and hand gestures; ora is the basic stance. Sattriya has two styles: the vigorous masculine paurashik bhangi and the delicate feminine stri bhangi. It shares Vaishnava devotion with neighbouring Manipuri, though its drum is the khol where Manipuri uses the pung.