The Sanskrit Drama in its Origin, Development, Theory & Practice c22.2

c22.2

On the other hand, the existence of regular theatres for the exhibition of drama is not assumed in the theorists. A drama was, it is clear, normally performed on an occasion of special rejoicing and solemnity, such as a festival of a god, or a royal marriage, or the celebration of a victory, and the place of performance thus naturally came to be the temple of the god or the palace of the king. We learn often in the drama and tales of the existence of dancing halls and music rooms in the royal palace where the ladies of the harem were taught these pleasing arts, and one of these could easily be adapted for a dramatic performance. But we have from the second century B.C. the remains of a cave which seems to have been used, if not for the performance of plays, at any rate for purposes of recitation of poems or some similar end; it is found in the Rāmgarh hill ¹ in Chota Nagpur, and, although it is quite impossible to prove that it had anything to do with plays, it is interesting to note that the *Nāṭyaçāstra* states that the play-house should have the form of a mountain cave and two stories.