Ashta Nayika

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 - 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 been used as theme in Indian painting, literature, sculpture as well as Indian classical dance.

As per Ashta Nayika, there are eight nayikas.

The Ashta-Nayika classification (nayika-bheda) first appears in Natya Shastra (24.210-11), a key Sanskrit treatise on Indian performing arts, authored by Bharata (dated between 2nd century BC and 2nd century AD). The classification is detailed in later works like the Dasarupaka (10th century), Sahityadarpana (14th century) and various other treatises on poetics as well as erotic Kamashastra texts like Kuttanimata (8th-9th century) based on courtesans, Panchasayaka, Anangaranga and Smaradipika. Keshavadasa's Rasikapriya (16th century) in Hindi, also elaborates on the Ashta-nayika.

The Ashta-Nayika have been illustrated in Indian painting, literature, sculpture as well as Indian classical dance. Notable medieval paintings that depict the Ashta nayika are the Ragamala paintings, as those from the Bundi school of painting.

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