Kālidāsa

Kālidāsa (Sanskrit: कालिदास) was a Classical Sanskrit writer, widely regarded as the greatest poet and dramatist in the Sanskrit language. His plays and poetry are primarily based on the Hindu Puranas.

Much about his life is unknown, only what can be inferred from his poetry and plays. His floruit cannot be dated with precision, but most likely falls within the 5th century AD.

Early life

Scholars have speculated that Kalidasa may have lived near the Himalayas, in the vicinity of Ujjain, and in Kalinga. This hypothesis is based on Kalidasa's detailed description of the Himalayas in his Kumārasambhava, the display of his love for Ujjain in Meghadūta, and his highly eulogistic descriptions of Kalingan emperor Hemāngada in Raghuvaṃśa (sixth sarga).

Lakshmi Dhar Kalla (1891-1953), a Sanskrit scholar and a Kashmiri Pandit, wrote a book titled The birth-place of Kalidasa (1926), which tries to trace the birthplace of Kalidasa based on his writings. He concluded that Kalidasa was born in Kashmir, but moved southwards, and sought the patronage of local rulers to prosper. The evidence cited by him from Kalidasa's writings includes:

Kalidas (disambiguation)

Kalidas or Kalidasa may refer to:

People

Films

Other

See also

Kalidas (film)

Kalidas (English: The Servant of Kali), also known as Kalidasa, is a 1931 Indian Tamil biographical film directed by H. M. Reddy and produced by Ardeshir Irani. It is noted for being the first Tamil-language sound film, and the first sound film to be made in South India. The film was based on the life of the Sanskrit poet Kālidāsa; it featured P. G. Venkatesan in the title role and T. P. Rajalakshmi as the female lead, with L. V. Prasad, Thevaram Rajambal, T. Susheela Devi, J. Sushila and M. S. Santhanalakshmi in supporting roles.

Kalidas, principally in Tamil, contained additional dialogue in Telugu and Hindi. While Rajalakshmi spoke in Tamil, Venkatesan spoke only in Telugu due to his lack of fluency in Tamil, and Prasad spoke only in Hindi. Despite its mythological theme, the film featured songs from much later time periods, such as the compositions of carnatic musician Tyagaraja, publicity songs of the Indian National Congress, and songs about Mahatma Gandhi and the Indian independence movement. The sound was recorded using the Vitaphone system. Kalidas was shot in Bombay on the sets of India's first sound film Alam Ara (1931) and was completed in eight days.