Sringara ( sa, शृङ्गार, ) is one of the nine rasas, usually translated as erotic love, romantic love, or as attraction or beauty. ''Rasa'' means "flavour", and the theory of rasa is the primary concept behind classical Indian arts including theatre, music, dance, poetry, and sculpture. Much of the content of traditional Indian arts revolves around the relationship between a man and a woman. The primary emotion thus generated is Sringara. The romantic relationship between lover and beloved is a metaphor for the relationship between the individual and the divine. Classical theater/dancers (i.e.

Bharatanatyam Bharatanatyam () is a major form of Indian classical dance that originated in Tamil Nadu. It is one of the eight widely recognized Indian classical dance forms, and expresses South Indian religious themes and spiritual ideas, particularly of ...

, Odissi, Mohiniyattam) refer to Sringara as 'the Mother of all rasas.' Sringara gives scope for a myriad of other emotions including jealousy, fear, anger, compassion, and of course for the expression of physical intimacy. No other Rasa has such a vast scope. The treatment and performance of Sringara varies on a large scale from the grotesque (as in Koodiyattam) to very refined and subtle (as in some styles of Bharatanatyam, or in Odissi). The attraction between lover and beloved is a metaphor for the relationship between the individual and the divine, the Nara-Narayana relationship.

Natya Shastra The ''Nāṭya Śāstra'' (, ''Nāṭyaśāstra'') is a Sanskrit treatise on the performing arts. The text is attributed to sage Bharata Muni, and its first complete compilation is dated to between 200 BCE and 200 CE, but estimates va ...

lists Vishnu as the presiding deity of the Sringara rasa.

External links

Sringara
- a Knol article elaborating on the subject {{Rasa theory, state=expanded Hindu philosophical concepts Indian culture Theatre in India Performing arts in India Hinduism and sexuality

See also

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