Abstract:
The Mattavilasa is a one act humourous farce written in Sanskrit and Prakrit and
authorship is assigned to the Pallava ruler of South India named Mahendravarman
the First[600-630A.D] who ruled from his capital at Kanchipuram. The initiators
of the Pallava dynasty assume to have been adventures of northern descent, who
settled in Dekkan peninsula at about the commencement of the Christian era. As a
consequent of the disintegration of the Sathavahana [Andhra] supremacy close to
the third century A.D., The Pallavas gained the opportunity to establish
Themselves as autonomous miniature power.Slowly and steadily their domain
extended rapidly until they graded as one of the mightiest states of the south India
who were constantly at war with neighboring kingdoms of Chera, Chola and
Pandya. The Pallava capital Kanchipuram [Presentley Conjevaram] supplied the
background for the Maththavilasaprahasana. Pallava kings bestowed generous and
cultured benefaction to diverse art forms and science. Ruminants of grand
architecture and sculpture are living evidence to the glorious by gone past.
Mahendravarman the first king who turned into a scribe. In his opus magnum
mathavilasaprahasana offeres a convincing portrayal of the socio-cultural aspects
of the contemporary South India .It is important to note the cultural sensitivity with
which this reconfiguration has been undertaken by the author. In doing so he
scrutinizes the experiences of clergy and their social milieu in a remarkably
perceptive manner demonstrating an estimable narrative dexterity. In this study it
is envisaged to examine the socio-cultural depiction of the farce and special focus
will be paid to analyze the religious dialectic between the Buddhists and the ardent
followers of Tantrism.
