Damodaramishra, and Krishnamishra. Performances Sanskrit plays were very popular and were staged in ancient times all over India. Now the only surviving ancient Sanskrit drama theatre is Koodiyattam, which is preserved in Kerala by the Chakyar community. This form of Sanskrit drama is thought to be at least 2000 years old and is one of the oldest living theatrical traditions in the world. All major Sanskrit plays such as that of Bhasa, Sri Harsha, Shakti Bhadra etc. are performed in Koodiyattam. Guru Nātyāchārya Vidūshakaratnam Padma Shri Māni Mādhava Chākyār choreographed and directed plays like Kalidasa's Abhijñānaśākuntala, Vikramorvaśīya and Mālavikāgnimitra; Bhasa's Swapnavāsadatta and Pancharātra for the first time in the history of Koodiyattam. He popularised Koodiyattam and rejuvenated the only surviving Sanskrit drama theatre in India. One of the hypotheses (as yet without consensus) of the origins of the "Trivandrum plays" of Bhasa is that these 13 plays were adapted from their original sources and brought to Kerala for choreography in the Koodiyattam tradition. Modern Sanskrit Plays Manmohan Acharya, a modern Sanskrit playwright has written many plays and dance dramas. Some worth-mentioning plays are Arjuna-Pratijnaa, Shrita-kamalam, Pada-pallavam, Divya-Jayadevam, Pingalaa, Mrtyuh, Sthitaprajnah, Tantra-mahasaktih, Purva-sakuntalam, Uttara-sakuntalam and Raavanah. Vidyadhar Shastri wrote three Sanskrit plays viz. Purnanandam, Kalidainyam and Durbala Balam. Prafulla Kumar Mishra has written the plays Chitrangada and Karuna. See also Classical Indian musical theatre Urubhanga Malayalam drama Notes References Sources Banham, Martin, ed. 1998. The Cambridge Guide to Theatre. Cambridge: Cambridge UP. . Brandon, James R. 1981. Introduction. In Baumer and Brandon (1981, xvii-xx). ---, ed. 1997. The Cambridge Guide to Asian Theatre.''' 2nd, rev. ed. Cambridge: Cambridge UP. . Brockett, Oscar G. and Franklin J. Hildy. 2003. History of the Theatre. Ninth edition, International edition. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. . Baumer, Rachel Van M., and James R. Brandon, eds. 1981. Sanskrit Theatre in Performance. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1993. . Richmond, Farley. 1998. "India." In Banham (1998, 516-525). Richmond, Farley P., Darius L. Swann, and Phillip B. Zarrilli, eds. 1993. Indian Theatre: Traditions of Performance.'' U of Hawaii P. . Further reading External links Drama Indian plays Theatre in India Classical theatre of india fr:Théâtre indien