A visit to the caves of Ajanta and Ellora was especially helpful in understanding the dress, mannerisms and the intellectual climate of the Buddhist period in our history. Art lovers of the world will forever be indebted to the artists and sculptors of Ajanta and Ellora, but I am further indebted to my friend, Dr Prem Lal Sah, for the opportunity of studying this artwork. For several years I had been planning to visit these caves, but I had felt discouraged and reluctant because of the difficult conditions of the times. The good Doctor dragged me along to see them, and this was the catalyst that gave final shape to the ideas in my mind.

I am most grateful to the source of my inspirations, my readership, without whom no art or literature can be created.

To preserve the atmosphere of classical times, it has been necessary to use some unusual words and verbal forms. The meanings of these words are explained in footnotes, and may add to the reader’s comprehension.

The Festival of Spring

DEVI MALLIKA, THE COURT DANCER AND LAUREATE OF ART, STRICKEN with grief at the sudden death of her grown-up daughter, Ruchira, withdrew from art and society. For a long time she led the life of a recluse. The town of Sagal,¹ sharing Mallika’s pain, remained dismal and gloomy, wearing the appearance of a place plunged in darkness. In those dark days, only her steadfast devotion to Saraswati, the goddess of dance and music, sustained Devi Mallika through her suffering. At last, after nearly two years, on the night of the full moon in the month of Chaitra she resolved to appear before the public.

Awaiting the appointed hour, in much the same way as the waves rose in the water of Pushkarni—the broad and beautiful lake of Sagal—the crowd of people swelled on its bank long before sunset.

In the surging throng of men and women, the pavilion erected for the festival appeared like an island surrounded by the swollen waters of a stream in the rainy season. The marquee was bedecked with spires, plantain stalks, archways and festoons of newly sprouted mango leaves and garlands of flowers. The air was heavy with the scent of blossoms and incense. Militiamen in their tall helmets, with shields on their backs and lances in their hands, stood on duty around the marquee thronged by the enthusiastic crowd as well as inside, where seats had been reserved for the members of the Republican Council, feudatory chiefs, nobles, prominent merchants, leading citizens and ladies of the noble families.

As the sun sank below the horizon, the gentry made their way towards the marquee through the throngs of people teeming the roads lined with guards. They moved along on chariots drawn by powerful horses, on palanquins shouldered by nimble-footed bearers in colourful livery and on horseback. As the members of the Council and the gentry entered the theatre, before being ushered to their seats, their arrival was heralded first by trumpets and then their names along with the names of their clans and their status were announced. The chariots and palanquins, emptied of their occupants at the gate, were taken by fan-bearing slaves and personal attendants towards the southern part of the arena, where they were parked in orderly rows.