Kalidasa, India’s greatest Sanskrit poet and dramatist lived during the fifth century. His most famous works are the dramas ‘Abhijnanashakuntalam’ or ‘The Recognition of Shakuntala, ‘Vikramorvashiyam’ or Urvashi Won by Valour and ‘Malavikagnimitram’ or Malavika and Agnimitra.
He also wrote the epic poems ‘Raghuvansa’ and ‘Kumarasambhava’ and the lyric ‘Meghaduta’. According to legend, Kalidasa was so handsome that he caught the attention of a princess who married him. However, as legend has it, Kalidasa had grown up without much education, and the princess was ashamed of his ignorance and coarseness.
A devoted worshipper of the goddess Kali, Kalidasa is said to have called upon his goddess for help and was rewarded with a sudden and extraordinary gift of wit.
He is then said to have become the most brilliant of the ‘nine gems’ at the court of the fabulous king Vikramaditya of Ujjain.