Social Life in Pampa's Classics

Special mention may be made about a drinking bout differently described in "Vikramarjuna Vijaya". It was celebrated with due rituals. Samples of liquors were offered to respective gods & Mother Earth. It was then first offered by youngsters to elders. Then the equals including women shared it in elegant glasses shaped like various birds. Kakkara, Maricha-Todarpu (Peppered Liquor) and Krishna Sura (black-wine) seem to have been special brews of Karnataka. Some drinks were highly inebriating. Women needed support to get up after a good drink.

In the famous dance-sequence of Neelanjana described in Adipurana, we find mention of various poses and sequences described in Bharata's Natyashastra. Dancing all the time, Neelanjana reveals bare and beautiful body very artistically without missing the beat. One is reminded of belly-dance or cabaret, going through Neelanjanas dance description. The sequence though used to show momentariness of material happiness, it does throw light that a class of society indulged in witnessing striptease type of dance, prevalent in those times.

Drinking and dancing scenes are depicted in contemporary sculptures. See my article Drinking in Ancient Karnataka