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This is an open access title distributed under the terms of the CC BY-NC 4.0 license, which permits any non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited. Further information and the complete license text can be found at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. The terms of the CC license apply only to the original material. The use of material from other sources (indicated by a reference) such as diagrams, illustrations, photos and text samples may require further permission from the respective copyright holder.
Cover illustration: Karaṇa daṇḍapakṣa, Naṭarāja temple, Chidambaram, Gopura est. Photo by author.
This book and its open access publication have been realised thanks to the financial support of the J. Gonda Fund Foundation, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), and the Swiss National Science Foundation.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Ganser, Elisa, author. | Bharata Muni. Nāṭyaśāstra. | Bharata Muni. Nāṭyaśāstra. English | Abhinavagupta, Rājānaka. Abhinavabhāratī. | Abhinavagupta, Rājānaka. Abhinavabhāratī. English.
Title: Theatre and its other : Abhinavagupta on dance and dramatic acting / by Elisa Ganser.
Description: Leiden ; Boston : Brill, 2021. | Series: Gonda indological studies, 1382-3442 ; 23 | Includes bibliographical references and index. | English and Sanskrit.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021029803 (print) | LCCN 2021029804 (ebook) | ISBN 9789004449817 (hardback) | ISBN 9789004467057 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Sanskrit drama–History and criticism. | Theater–India. | Aesthetics, Indic. | Bharata Muni. Nāṭyaśāstra. | Abhinavagupta, Rājānaka. Abhinavabhāratī.
Classification: LCC PK3791.A195 A6334 2021 (print) | LCC PK3791.A195 (ebook) | DDC 792–dc23
LC record available at
LC ebook record available at
Typeface for the Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic scripts: “Brill”. See and download:
ISSN 1382-3442
ISBN 978-90-04-44981-7 (hardback)
ISBN 978-90-04-46705-7 (e-book)
Copyright 2022 by Elisa Ganser.
Copyright 2022 by Elisa Ganser. Published by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.
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