Hindu Theatre (Part 1)

Summary

In this note, the author responds to Manomohan Ghosh’s view that the terms rāṅgapīṭha and rāṅgaśīrṣa in Bharata’s Nāṭyaśāstra refer to the same part of the stage. The author argues that the two terms denote distinct architectural elements of the ancient Indian theatre, citing passages from the Abhinavabhāratī and other commentaries. He acknowledges that the printed text of Bharata’s treatise is corrupt but contends that careful reconstruction allows scholars to differentiate between the rāṅgapīṭha (the main acting platform) and the rāṅgaśīrṣa (a projecting part or head of the stage). The article emphasises the need to rely on commentaries like Abhinava’s to understand ambiguous verses. It advocates for textual criticism of Nāṭyaśāstra manuscripts to clarify such technical terms and preserve the integrity of ancient theatrical architecture.