Review Paper
Year: 2021 | Month: October-December | Volume: 5 | Issue: 4 | Pages: 45-53
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52403/gijash.20211008
Shakuntala: As Authored by Kalidas and Painted by Raja Ravi Varma
Anasuya Adhikari1, Birbal Saha2
1Research Scholar, 2Professor,
Department of Education, Sidho-Kanho-Birsha University, Purulia, West Bengal, India.
Corresponding Author: Birbal Saha
ABSTRACT
Mythology has always been an appealing area which has been engrossing readers and listeners since ages. Mythology plays distinctive roles and employs its sacred narratives, art and rituals to keep the values and morals of the society intact. This system of writing texts on mythology was common to the entire subcontinent and produced its own literature written in Sanskrit. One such magnum opus is Abhijnanashakuntalam authored by the great Sanskrit maestro, Kalidas. It is also important to note that mythology in the form of texts was accessible to a very limited class of people which included the elites, literates, scholars etc, and consequently a large section of the society remained unaware of these episodes and virtues. It is where, Raja Ravi Varma, ‘Father of Modern Indian Art’ is credited to bring these episodes in the form of both painting and printing to the commoners. This not only attracted a huge number of people towards mythology, Hindu culture and tradition but also urged to preserve values. The present paper is an attempt to study the contributions of the two maestros, Kalidas- as the author of Abhijnanashakuntalam and Raja Ravi Varma-as the painter of the Shakuntala Series, comparative studies of how both the maestros perceived the character of Shakuntala, portrayal of ‘beauty’, and how the play, painting and printing was appreciated, responses gathered and inspirations shared.
Keywords: Kalidas, Raja Ravi Varma, Shakuntala, Mythology and Painting, Oleographs
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