Shilparatna


Shilparatna is a classical text on traditional South Indian representational-performing arts. It is particularly influential in painting and theatrical performance. It was authored by Srikumara in 16th century AD. In this the word Shilpa Ratna is used as a broad term embodying artistic forms that either uses the body as a medium of expression or that which represents the body as an expression. It ranks only after the Natya Shastra and the Abhinaya Darpana as a text of fundamentals on the performing arts.
It lays down the tenets of painting such as the proper set of colours and the right combinations which leads to stylized balance and rhythm. It is adhered to as principles in South Indian paintings known as Dravidian mural art or Dravidian mural painting. The text describes yellow, white, red and terreVerte as the pure colours. These colours could be used as single colours or in combinations to make another chroma.
The shilparatna also lays down principles for stage performance, like the optimal space for a performance. The NatyaGriha, Natya and Griha in kerala is made according to these principles and those laid down by the Natya Shastra. It describes the elaborate codified language of mudras as angikabhinaya meaning body-expressions.