Orissi may well claim to be the earliest classical Indian dance style on the basis of archaeological evidence, the most outstanding being the Rani Gupta caves of the second century B. C. in Orissa. Scholars have dated these caves and their carvings to be earlier than the writing ofthe Natyascistra. Continue Reading...

As has been mentioned in the previous chapter, there is a rich body of critical writing on the dance both at the level of theory and at the level of technique. Writers on dance and drama were known to Panini as is obvious from the numerous words he used for the actor, the performer, the dancer, the acrobat as also his reference to the Nata sutras. Continue Reading...

The second millennium BC witnessed another major historical event in the early history of the South Asian subcontinent after the rise and fall of the Indus civilisation: a semi-nomadic people which called itself Arya in its sacred hymns came down to the northwestern plains through the mountain passes of Afghanistan. Continue Reading...

Acomparative analysis of the sculptural, architectural and decorative features of the Khajuraho temples shows that the monuments, although of a common lineage, can be divided into two broad groups. Continue Reading...

Acomparative analysis of the sculptural, architectural and decorative features of the Khajuraho temples shows that the monuments, although of a common lineage, can be divided into two broad groups. Continue Reading...

The Arya were central Asian Steppe pastoralists who arrived in India between roughly 2000 BCE and 1500 BCE, and brought Indo-European languages to the subcontinent. Continue Reading...