Textual Evidence
The evidence of dance is further supported by the texts available on music and dance written in Orissa. Some of them iclude “Sangitanarayan” by Narayan Dev Gajapti (consists one section on dance called as the Nritya Khand), Nritya Kaumudi and Natya Manorama by Raghunath Rath (18th century), Abhinaya Darpana by Yadunath Sinha (17th-18th century), etc.
Literary Evidence
Many of the Orissan Literature works contain description of dance like Oriya Mahabharta by Saral Das (15th century), Dandi Ramayana by Balarama Das(16th century) and Niladri Mahodaya of Lokanath Vidyadhara (17th century).
Not many literary works survive of the Shaivite tradition of Orissa (8th to 11th century).
Sanskrit Poetry, Gita Govinda by Saint Jayadev, which is an integral part of abhinaya in Odissi dance recital, was contemporary with the construction of the Jagannath temple. Some of the first commentaries on this great poem were written in Orissa and it was accepted as a text of worship in the Jagannath temple.
There were many other composers like Ramananda Rai ( play-Jagannath Vallabh Nataka), Jayadeva-II (Piyush Lahari), King Kapilendra Deva (Parsuram Vijaya), the outstanding poet Upendra Bhanjadeo, Kavi Surya, Baladev Rath, Gopal Krishna Pattanayak and Banmalidas.
The tradition of the compositions of the lyrical poetry and the dramatic works and the singing of the Gita Govinda both in Sanskrit as well as Oriya translations continued well into the 19th century.