Mahmud returned again in 1020–21 CE, to punish Chandella legend Vidyadhara. On the way, Shahi Trilochanapala opposed him on the banks of the Yamuna. He was defe...
His younger contemporary, Abhinavagupta, of Kashmir, is a giant in every sense of the word. By his own admission, he was not short of guidance, and it shows in...
Tenth Century CE With the continuing decline of the Abbasid Caliphate, Arabs continued to hold only a small part of Sindh even after 300+ years since their fir...
[Alaṅkāra-śāstra is often called the youngest among Indian sciences. Several factors substantiate this statement. Of them, the fact that Alaṅkāra-śāstra boarded...
Avadhānam and Audience Avadhānam sets a higher bar for an audience than most arts. It is probably at the other end of the spectrum to music, whose bar is the l...
Avadhānam is an ancient art/sport of India. It involves extempore creation of metrical verses on a variety of topics under myriad aesthetic constraints. It is a...
Kālidāsa and Other Arts From his works, it is clear that Kālidāsa had extensive knowledge of dance, music and painting. His knowledge of dance can be estimated...
As noted earlier, Kālidāsa has been the greatest yet most graceful exponent of Indian values. He has upheld the highest values of our tradition at the individua...
Kālidāsa has probably provided us with the finest pictures of the pure life led by sages in hermitages. It is among the many things that he has pioneered. From...
Kumārasambhavam The epic opens with a magnificent hyperbole describing the great Himalayan mountains: स्थितः पृथिव्या इव मानदण्डः ||The Himalayas is like a grea...
Kālidāsa is known as the master of similes. The Sanskrit tradition has proclaimed it as ‘Upamā Kālidāsasya.’ The variety, depth and appropriateness of his simil...
Perhaps there is no other poet in Sanskrit or any other Indian language who has described the mythology, knowledge, geography, flora and fauna of our country in...
5. Mālavikāgnimitram This is probably Kālidāsa’s first drama. This is proved by the first few verses in this drama, where he salutes earlier poets and humbly dr...
There are many works in Sanskrit claiming Kālidāsa to be their author. However, after critical analysis, scholars are unanimous in crediting seven works to Kāli...
India is home to a unique and vibrant civilization. It is unique for being the only ancient civilization to have survived the test of time. The ancient Egyptian...