Ideas around sacred geometry in the Indian tradition are most clearly seen in the prolific use of yantras as tools of meditation in tantric art forms. These are typically two-dimensional diagrams or three-dimensional objects, regarded as representing the elemental powers of Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Ether commonly symbolised by a square, circle, triangle, hexagon and a dot or bindu respectively. These geometric shapes are combined to create energy fields of varying potencies within which sacred objects are conceived. Temple architecture in India is imbued with such yantras and used as a means of harnessing divine energies through their precision, power and beauty. While Odissi dance has been greatly inspired by the dance rituals of mediaeval Odishan temples, there has been no discussion about the possible role of yantras in actual movement and choreography. This is surprising as the ‘virtual lines’ held between different body parts in static dance postures as used in the dance tradition today, hold strong geometric shapes. This is amplified by movement sequences where the arms, hands, legs and feet create geometric forms in space, making patterns akin to ‘virtual yantras’. This recognition piqued my curiosity
and the current paper is a self-reflexive account of a process of engaging with Odissi movement through visualising clarity of shape and form in movement patterns, before embodying them, based on a template of ‘3 Bindus on the body’s central axis’, which was formulated during the course of studio practice.