Music, dance and performing arts
Classical dances (Sangeet Natak Akademi recognises 8)
| Dance | State | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Bharatanatyam | Tamil Nadu | Rukmini Devi Arundale |
| Kathak | North India (UP) | Birju Maharaj; Lucknow and Jaipur gharanas |
| Kathakali | Kerala | Dance-drama, elaborate make-up |
| Mohiniyattam | Kerala | Solo female dance |
| Kuchipudi | Andhra Pradesh | Dancing on a brass plate |
| Odissi | Odisha | Tribhanga and chauka postures; Mahari (temple dancers) and Gotipua traditions; Kelucharan Mohapatra, Sanjukta Panigrahi, Sonal Mansingh |
| Manipuri | Manipur | Raas Leela |
| Sattriya | Assam | Srimanta Sankardev; added in 2000 |
Natya Shastra by Bharata Muni is the basic text of dance and drama. Gita Govinda (12th c., Jayadeva of Odisha) is sung in Odissi and in the Jagannath temple.
Odisha folk forms
Chhau (Mayurbhanj — UNESCO intangible heritage 2010 with Seraikela and Purulia), Gotipua (boys dressed as girls), Danda Nata, Sambalpuri Dalkhai, Ghumura (Kalahandi drum), Pala, Daskathia, Prahlad Natak, Jatra.
Music
- Hindustani (north) and Carnatic (south). Carnatic trinity: Tyagaraja, Muthuswami Dikshitar, Syama Sastri. Purandara Dasa — "father of Carnatic music".
- Instruments: sitar (Ravi Shankar), sarod (Amjad Ali Khan), shehnai (Bismillah Khan), santoor (Shivkumar Sharma), tabla (Zakir Hussain), flute (Hariprasad Chaurasia, from Allahabad).
- Odissi music recognised as classical; Odia singers: Akshaya Mohanty, Raghunath Panigrahi.