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by its intermittent waving that Vijayarāghava was the only poet, who can produce poetry, combining the sweetness of Sugar. the fragrance of Jāti flower, the soothing effects of Malaya māruta, and the all-absorbing nature of the moon light (1--18) The banner also declared that a literate, who visited that court, must either be an original poet of rare genius or a scholar of out-standing merit, in grammar (Vyakarana), prosody (Chandas), and poetics (alankara 1--19).
3. DANCE AND MUSIC IN THE COURT
In the court there were ladies, who appeared, to be the Art of Bharata Natya, Sangīta and Sāhitya in feminine forms. The most prominent among were :-
CHANDRARĒKHA.
She was the greatest dancer of the Court and was formerly at the Court of Vira Venkataraya (Vira Venkatapathiraya 1584-1616 A. D.) who honoured her by bestowing on her many titles. As a mark of her proficiency in dancing, she was granted birudu vadyas i.e. musical instruments declaring the titles, and a retinue. She had the privilege of performing the first dance 1-22. She seems to have been the first mistress of Vijayarāghava Nāyaka. She might have probably left the Imperial Court after the death of Venkatapatiraya, in 1616 A. D. and entered Tanjore Court. As there is no reference to this lady, in the works of Raghunātha and his contemporaries, it is presumed that she was attached from the beginning to Vijayarāghava Nayaka, and began to make her appearance in Tanjore Court
