Madonna and Child Painting by Raphel ( Raffaello Santi )

Kalidasa is the greatest known Sanskrit dramatist and poet and in his hands Sanskrit literature had reached its zenith. He flourished during the reign of the Gupta ruler, Chandragupta Vikramaditya. Kalidasa was one of the Navaratnas at the court of Chandragupta vikramaditya. Kaldisa’s works include plays, epics and lyrics. His play Abhijnana Sakunthalam (Recognition of Sakunthala) is the most well known of all his works and it has been translated into various languages of the world. In all, 7 works of Kalidasa are available today. These are: Malavikagnimitra, Vikramoravasiyam and Abhijnana Sakunthalam (plays); Raghu vVansa and Kumara Sambhavam (epics), Meghdoot and Ritu Samhara(lyrics).