Sattriya or Sattriya Nritya (Assamese: সত্ৰীয়া নৃত্য), is one among the eight principal classical Indian dance traditions. In the year 2000, the Sattriya dances of Assam received recognition as one of the eight classical dance forms of India.[1] Where as some of the other traditions have been revived in the recent past, Sattriya has remained a living tradition since its creation by the founder of Vaishnavism in Assam, the great saint Srimanta Sankardev, in 15th century Assam.[2]
Srimanta Sankardev and Madhavdev created Sattriya Nritya as an accompaniment to the Ankia Naat (a form of Assamese one-act plays devised by them), which were usually performed in the sattras, monasteries associated with the Ekasarana dharma. As the tradition developed and grew within the sattras, the dance form came to be known as Sattriya Nritya, a name first coined by Maheswar Neog.[3] Today, although Sattriya Nritya has emerged from within the confines of the sattras to a much wider recognition, the sattras continue to use the dance form for ritualistic and other purposes for which it was originally created circa 500 years ago.