The Position of Women in Hindu Civilisation, from Prehistoric Times to the Present Day c6.65

c6.65

In the post-Vedic period also society went on encouraging music and dancing in the case of girls. Among the arts which ladies in cultured families were expected to cultivate, the *Kāmasūtra* assigns the most prominent place to dancing and music, both vocal and instrumental (1,3,16). Other arts which they were recommended to master were painting, gardening, garland-making, toy-making, house decorations etc. (*Ibid*, 1, 3, 1). Heroines of Sanskrit dramas, written during the first millennium of the Christian era, are well versed in most of these arts. Not infrequently, maidens used to give a dance in the court before a select audience without incurring thereby any social opprobrium¹. The dance teacher was a regular officer in the royal court. It is clear that higher sections of society used to take all possible care to develop the æsthetic sense of girls.