| Ratnavali | |
|---|---|
| Written by | Harsha |
| Characters | Udayana Ratnavali |
| Original language | Sanskrit |
| Subject | Comedy Of Court Life |
| Genre | Comedy |
| Setting | Kaushambi, India |
Ratnavali (Precious Garland) is a Sanskrit drama about a beautiful princess named Ratnavali, and a great king named Udayana. It is attributed to the Indian emperor Harsha (606–648).[1][2] It is a Natika in four acts. One of the first textual references to the celebration of Holi, the festival of Colours have been found in this text.[3]
Ratnāvalī subtitled (rajaparikatha) is also the title of a 3rd-century CE Buddhist philosophical work by Nagarjuna, a discourse addressed to an Indian king (possibly a Satavahana monarch).[4]
- ^ "Ratnavali (play by Harsa)". britannica.com. Retrieved 16 February 2008.
- ^ V. Venkatachalam. A students’ Handbook to Ratnavali of Sri Harsa, Madras, 1955. (pp. 3+228)
- ^ Origins of Holi BBC.
- ^ Ruegg, David Seyfort, ''The Literature of the Madhyamaka School of Philosophy in India,'' Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, 1981, p. 24.