View source for Temple dance

{{short description|Religious performance held in Hindu temples}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
[[Image:Apsara relief.jpg|thumb|A bas relief at the 12th-century temple of [[Angkor Wat]] in Cambodia showing ''apsara'' temple dancers.]]
'''Temple dance''' denotes a religious performance held in the temples, such as sadir, prescribed by [[Āgama (Hinduism)|Agamas]] (scriptures that codified temple rituals, etc.).<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last1=Younger |first1=Paul |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dzDHQgAACAAJ |title=The Home of Dancing Śivan̲: The Traditions of the Hindu Temple in Citamparam |last2=Younger |first2=Professor of Religious Studies Paul |date=1995 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-509532-6 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Subramuniyaswami |first=Satguru Sivaya |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h78QlF7pX-0C&q=agamas+hindu+dance |title=Dancing with Siva: Hinduism's Contemporary Catechism |date=2003 |publisher=Himalayan Academy Publications |isbn=978-0-945497-89-9 |language=en}}</ref> Traces of these ancient temple dances of India are seen in [[Bharatanatyam]] and [[Odissi]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Narayan |first=Shovana |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zLOiaGDLYOAC&q=bharatanatyam+and+odissi+indian+dance |title=The Sterling Book of INDIAN CLASSICAL DANCE |date=2011-12-30 |publisher=Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd |isbn=978-81-207-9078-0 |language=en}}</ref>

The sacred Hindu temple dance used to be performed by [[devadasi]]s and [[Mahari Dance]], who were supposed to manifest in the material body the heavenly dance of [[apsara]]s.<ref name=":0" />

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Commonscatinline|Hindu temple dance}}

{{Dance in India}}
{{Worship in Hinduism}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Temple Dance}}
[[Category:Classical dance genres of India]]
[[Category:Hindu temple dance| ]]


{{India-dance-stub}}{{Hinduism-stub}}{{India-theat-stub}}