earthly cari like samapada, sthitavarta mattali, urudveritta, vicyata etc. and the akashi cari like nupura padika, udhajanu, bhramari etc. can observe the similarities with some of the patterns of movements of mati-akhoras, feet movements and the bhangis of the Sattriya dance. The patterns similar to that of karanas as described in Natya Shastra are also seen in mati-akhoras. The legs movements in some mati-akhoras are similar to that of karanas. In the application of lina, we can see that in one of the bhangis of Bor Praveshar Nachh (one of the dances of Sattriya repertoire which is generally performed by the monks in Sattra), is almost similar except the hand position. Besides these the thiya lon of mati-akhora has similarity with atikranta, the jorkamitona of mati-akhora with sakatachya, beng jap with chakramandala, morai panikhowa with gangavartana and purush ora has certain similarity with nikuttaka and ardharecita. Further, it appears that besides the Natya Shastra, Srimanta Sankaradeva must have studied the Abhinaya Darpana and Sangeet Ratnakara also. Because we can observe that many of the elements of Abhinaya Darpana are seen in Sattriya dance too. For example the features of vegini cari of Abhinaya Darpana are present in the cereki pak (one of the spins) of Sattriya where the dancer moves quickly on toes, and also in the thita pak (one of the spins) the dancer moves on entire sole. The kuttana cari of Abhinaya Darpana, is seen in the thita pak of Sattriya and some of the bhangis of Sutradhari and Rajagharia chali nachh of Sattriya repertoire. Besides these, the mandala-bheda of Abhinaya-Darpana, some of the sthanaka-bheda, utplavana, bhramari, gaits, hastas, sira-bheda, etc. from Abhinaya Darpana and some of the sira-bheda, griva-bheda, hastas etc. from Sangeet Ratnakara are also visible in Sattriya dance. Srimanta Sankaradeva was an avid reader of Yoga Shastra and had acquired high proficiency in the yogic practices.3 It’s worth mentioning that the different types of yoga exercises seem to have been practiced in Assam since early times. Especially nathism seems to have been prevalent in Assam since the time earlier than Srimanta Sankaradeva. The nathas are also known as Yogis, various forms of Yoga practices have been once cultured among them. So, in this context we can assume that Srimanta Sankaradeva had taken some elements from the yogic postures of the yoga system or yoga shastra. The body exercises are essential for any dancer to gain body flexibility was never an unknown fact for the saint. So, many of the postures of mati-akhoras have striking similarities with the yogic posture. For example, oodha Ion of mati-akhora is similar with the yogic posture shirsasan, kasa-bandh
is similar with the yogic posture padmashan etc. Many of the postures of mati-akhoras have striking similarities with pre-Sankaradeva Devadasi dance tradition of Assam. Devadasi dance tradition was a temple dance tradition of Assam, where we can observe many shastric elements. Some acrobatic postures of matiakhora like thiya lon, aathu lon etc. of Sattriya have similar counterpart in Devedasi dance tradition. Besides these, the basic positions or stances of Sattriya, which are called ora, phul ora etc. are also similar with Devadasi dance. Many foot positions, movements, hastas, interpretative hastas are also similar between these two dance forms. So, we can assume that Srimanta Sankaradeva studied and explored some of the postures from this Devadasi dance tradition. It is worth mentioning that the chali nachh composed by Sri Madhavadeva, apostle of Srimanta Sankaradeva, which has a significant part of the Sattriya repertoire bears some similarity with the Devadasi. On the other hand, that influence of many Abhinaya hastas, feet movements, dristi, the pattern of Abhinaya, body movements of preSankaradeva ojapali tradition is highly visible in Sattriya. So these are also major sources of formulation of Sattriya dance. Srimanta Sankaradeva synthesized both classical and folk elements to build up the Sattriya dance in the form of its diverse components. Various indigenous elements and materials from different sources such as folk cultures, the tradition of sculpture vibrant in the North Eastern region etc. were also seems to be explored by the saint. For example, one of the distinct body movement features of Sattriya, ulaha (undulating body movement) is similar the body movements of various folk dance traditions of Assam. Again the body movement of posolatola (mati akhora) is similar to one of the body movements of the kherai dance of Bodo community of Assam. Besides these some of the feet movements of Sattriya like - siral, leciri, citika etc. are also similar to the kherani dance of Bodo community, Karbi folk dance, the hamjar folk dance of Rabha community, madan hasta of Sattriya is similar to one of the hastas of Bihu dance, hayire or khirkhir hasta of Sattriya is similar to the Bihu dance of Mishing community etc. The postures of sasaka hasta of Sattriya can be traced out in the bronze sculpture of Durga of 9th century and also it is visible in the sculpture of Lord Vishnu of llth-12th century.