This year, Mahakavi Kalidas Jayanti is observed on July 3  and is marked as the birth anniversary of the great poet Kalidasa. The birth anniversary of the great scholar falls on Shukla Paksha Pratipada of Ashada month as per Hindu month each year. However, according to the Tamil annual calendar, the day falls on Aani Masam, while Malayalam and Bengali calendar celebrate this day in the month of Midhunam month and Aashar month respectively.

Kalidasa was one of the greatest poets and drama writers of the Sanskrit language. Kalidasa’s plays and poetry are based on Hindu mythology. His actual birth year is not known, but his works were most likely authored within the 4th-5th century. It is acknowledged that Kalidasa made a distinct and glorious contribution to Sanskrit literature. Basant Panchami 2019: Kalidas to Kamadeva, Here’s Interesting Mythological Tales Behind Saraswati Puja.

Some researchers and scholars believe that Kalidasa may have lived near the Himalayas, in the vicinity of Ujjain and in Kalinga. According to several ancient and medieval books, Kalidasa was a court poet of a king named Vikramaditya. While, there were some theories which state that he flourished during the reign of Chandragupta II, which is supported by several western scholars. Some of the scholars also believe that the literary works attributed to Kalidasa were not written by a single person. Sanskrit Diwas 2018: Know History, Significance and Importance of This Ancient Language.

Kalidasa reportedly wrote three plays – Malavikagnimitra, Vikramorvashiya and Abhijnana Shakutalam. Among all these plays, Abhijnana Shakutalam is generally regarded as a masterpiece. He also wrote two poems Raghuvaṃsa and Kumarasambhava. Apart from these works, Meghaduta and Ritusamhara are also poetical works of great distinction.

There are many films in various Indian languages including Kannada, Tamil and Hindi based on Kalidasa's works and life. V Shantaram’s movie Stree, which was made in 1961, was based on Kalidasa’s Shakuntala. It is claimed that even famous Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore was inspired by Kalidasa’s work.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 03, 2019 07:00 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).