Malavika and Agnimitra

Kalidasa · c. 400 CE · Play · Indian · Classical

A king of Vidisha catches sight of a new attendant in a painting of the senior queen's household and cannot get near her, so his brahmin jester arranges a contest between two dance masters as a pretext for having her perform. Two queens, a spring festival, a golden anklet and a message read out by the wrong person keep the intrigue moving while a war on the Narmada is reported by dispatch. Kalidasa's earliest play, and the one where the court manoeuvring is done for its own sake.

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