Natyashastra
Ancient performance treatise
Natyashastra is an ancient Sanskrit treatise on the performing arts, attributed to the sage Bharata and dating roughly to the second century BCE.
It covers drama, dance, music, stagecraft, and aesthetic theory in exhaustive detail, establishing foundational concepts for Indian classical arts.
The text introduces *rasa*—the emotional essence that performance should evoke in audiences—a principle that remains central to Indian aesthetics.
Ritual hand gesture
- footworkSkilled lower-limb movement
- poseDeliberate bodily arrangement
- rhythmPatterned stress and silence
- classical danceCodified traditional movement art
Communicative body movement
- expressionConveyed thought or feeling
- movementChange in position
- stagingPreparing for presentation
- actorOne who portrays characters
costume · makeup · mask · entrance · exit · convention · stylization · presentation
Art of theatrical structure
- aestheticsTheory of beauty
- SanskritAncient Indo-Aryan language
- ancient textVery old written work
- compendiumCondensed reference collection
chapters · sutras · commentary · scholarship · translation · manuscript · verse · prose
Theatrical set construction
- curtainFabric hung for privacy
- pillarsLoad-bearing vertical structures
- greenroomBackstage holding area
- backstageTheater's hidden area
props · lighting · acoustics · architecture · auditorium · seating · entrance door · dimensions
Keen pleasurable appreciation
- sentimentFelt attitude or view
- moodPrevailing emotional condition
- evocationCalling forth to mind
- suggestionIdea proposed for consideration
connoisseur · taste · delight
Indian classical tone
- shrutiIndian microtonal pitch interval
- ragaIndian melodic framework
- instrumentsTools for precise tasks
- veenaGourd-resonated plucked strings
flute · vocal · melody · octave · scale · composition · accompaniment · orchestra
mudra
Ritual hand gesture
gesture
Communicative body movement
- expressionConveyed thought or feeling
- movementChange in position
- stagingPreparing for presentation
actor · costume · makeup · mask · entrance · exit · convention · stylization · presentation · enactment
dramaturgy
Art of theatrical structure
- aestheticsTheory of beauty
- SanskritAncient Indo-Aryan language
- ancient textVery old written work
compendium · chapters · sutras · commentary · scholarship · translation · manuscript · verse · prose · canonical
stage design
Theatrical set construction
- curtainFabric hung for privacy
- pillarsLoad-bearing vertical structures
- greenroomBackstage holding area
backstage · props · lighting · acoustics · architecture · auditorium · seating · entrance door · dimensions · consecration
relish
Keen pleasurable appreciation
suggestion · connoisseur · taste · delight
swara
Indian classical tone
- shrutiIndian microtonal pitch interval
- ragaIndian melodic framework
- instrumentsTools for precise tasks
veena · flute · vocal · melody · octave · scale · composition · accompaniment · orchestra · notation
- Indian artmudra, miniature painting, mehndi, folk revival, cultural renaissance
- Indian scholarshipSanskrit, Vedas, ashram, pundit, rishi
- Sanskrit LiteratureMahabharata, Ramayana, Bhagavad Gita, Vedas, Upanishads
- Sanskrit textsVedas, Upanishads, Mahabharata, Ramayana, Bhagavad Gita
- ShastrasNatya Shastra
- Dharmic Traditionsdharma, karma, moksha, samsara, atman
Natyashastraanti-art
Rejection of conventional aesthetics
experimental theatre · happening · Dadaism · happenings · spontaneous expression
Natyashastracatharsis
Purification through emotional expression