Nandikeshwar's Abhinayadarpanam (A Manual of Gesture and Posture used in Hindu Dance and Drama)

The first edition of the Abhinayadarpanam published twentythree years ago was welcomed by all interested persons including the late A. K. Coomaraswamy whose translation of the work named The Mirror of Gesture (Cambridge, Mass, 1917) directed my attention to this Sanskrit text. Still for various reasons I could not think of publishing its second edition even after it was out of print for a long time, and there was some demand for it. One such reason and an important one too, was that I then engaged myself in studying the Natyalästra and was planning a translation of this important work, and thought that this would be of greater use to readers interested in the subject. Coomaraswamy also published in the meantime a revised edition of The Mirror of Gesture (New York, 1936) and utilised my work for the revision. This also relieved me for the time being from the urgency of undertaking a second edition. But, for the last three or four years, even after publication of the first volume of the translation of the Natyasastra, Calcutta, 1951, I have been receiving earnest enquiries from various quarters whether a copy of the Abhinayadarpanam may still be available. Some of the enquirers gave me to understand that they had read the translation of the Natyasastra but still required a copy of the Abhinayadarpanam. Hence, I could no longer remain indifferent in this regard, and have come gradually to believe that a new edition of this work may remove a real want of a class of readers. It seemed that its very brevity while it dealt with all essential gestures and postures used in Hindu dance and drama, had made it something like a favourite of the student of these arts. My hesitation about publishing a second edition was thus finally overcome. On taking up the preparation of a copy for the press I found that some of the views expressed in the introduction and notes have undergone some change during the last twentythree years, and my idea about the need of readers of the book is also no longer quite the same. So, I have slightly modified the introduction and notes by making necessary emendation and omission here and there. It may be hoped that these changes have added to its usefulness. If some readers may still require additional information on certain topics they are requested to refer very kindly to the translation of the Natyasastra which, treats of all relevant matters in much greater detail.

**Contents and Sample Pages**