Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c10.s2.t18.13

v2.c10.s2.t18.13

*Ritusamhara* is an earliest work of Kalidasa, and has six cantos for six Indian seasons – summer, monsoon, autumn, fall winter, winter and spring, as well as the reaction of lovers to the changing seasonal landscapes. The epic *Raghubamsa* might be a later work of the poet. It is based on Indian epics and *Puranas* and consists of 19 cantos and 1,579 stanzas. Raghu is the great-grandfather of Rama – the hero in the epic *Ramayana*. Though centering on the life of Rama, *Raghubamsa* adds the stories of Rama's ancestors and descendants. The poem narrates the stories from Rama's great-great-grandfather to the 21 kings after him. Rama's story accounts for seven cantos, clearly shorter than the *Ramayana*. The poet intended to express his political aspirations through genealogy. With many charming paragraphs, this long poem is also an excellent model for classic Indian poetry. *Kumarasambhava*, composed on the basis of *Puranas* and other ancient Hindu tales, has 17 cantos, and generally, Kalidasa is believed to have written