Gita GovindaSanskrit
Radha and Krishna's separation and union in twenty-four ashtapadis. Composed in the twelfth century by Jayadeva, of Kenduli Sasan in the Prachi valley, and sung nightly at Puri as part of the sequence that closes the temple's day.
कब गाया जाता है: The temple's night ritual, and in concert.
Boita BandanaOdia
The launching of a boat. Women float small paper, banana-bark or pith boats carrying a lamp and betel nut on the nearest water and chant "aa ka ma bai" while doing it — a rite for a voyage nobody has made for centuries.
कब गाया जाता है: Kartik Purnima, at dawn.
Chaiti Ghoda songOdia
The story of Basuli and the horse, sung by a pair — one singing, one interjecting — while the horse dancer moves between them.
कब गाया जाता है: Chaitra, in the fishing villages.
Kuanri Punei songsOdia
Unmarried girls' songs and games on the full-moon night, with offerings made to the moon at moonrise and again at moonset, and the puchi game danced through the evening.
कब गाया जाता है: Kumar Purnima, in Aswina.
Champu and chhandaOdia
The thirty-four champus, each beginning with a successive letter of the alphabet, on Radha and Krishna — a poetic form built on a constraint, and one of the standing tests of an Odissi singer.
कब गाया जाता है: Recital, and as Odissi music repertoire.
Dola songsOdia
Sung as village deities are carried on vimanas from village to village to meet one another at the melana ground, with colour thrown and the palanquins made to dance.
कब गाया जाता है: Dola Purnima, in Phalguna.
PalaOdia with Sanskrit quotation
A single narrative expounded, argued and joked over across a whole night, moving between sung verse and spoken commentary.
कब गाया जाता है: Temple courtyards, fairs and village gatherings.