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India: Abhisarika is a heroine who sets aside her modesty and goes secretly to meet her lover. She is depicted on her way to the tryst, defying the storm and snakes and danger.

India: Abhisarika is a heroine who sets aside her modesty and goes secretly to meet her lover. She is depicted on her way to the tryst, defying the storm and snakes and danger.

The Ashta-Nayika is a collective name for eight types of nayikas or heroines as classified by Bharata in his Sanskrit treatise on performing arts, the Natya Shastra. The eight nayikas represent eight different states (avastha) in relationship to her hero or nayaka. As archetypal states of the romantic heroine, it has long been used as theme in Indian painting, literature, sculpture as well as Indian classical dance.

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