were Oriya  devadasis  or temple girls, their name deriving from  Maha  (great) and  Nari  or  Mahri  (chosen) particularly those at the temple of Jagganath  at  Puri . Early Maharis performed mainly  Nritta  (pure dance) and  Abhinaya  (interpretation of poetry) based on  Mantras  and  Slokas . Later, Maharis especially performed dance sequences