Kalyanamalla

For King Kalyanamalla of medieval Khas Kingdom, see Khas dynasty.

Kalyanamalla or Kalyan Malla was a 15th–16th-century Indian poet and writer of Ananga Ranga aka 'Stage of the Bodiless One', a sanskrit manuscript on 'Art of Love'.

The arch-poet Kalyan Malla was a prince, a grandson of King Trailyokyachandra of Karpur Dynasty and son of Gaja Malla.^[1]

Kalyanamalla was from Kalinga and belonged to the Brahmin caste.^[2]

In one of his verses in Anangaranga, he speaks of the importance of a fine environment for lovemaking:^[3]

Choose a courtyard that is high up in the mansion,

that is spacious, pleasant, and newly whitewashed,

that is perfumed by incense from aloe and other fragrant substances,

that is filled with the sound of musical instruments and is bright with lamplight.

Here let the man make love to the woman freely to his heart's content.

— Kalyanamalla, Anangaranga

Kalyana Malla is also known for his work Suleiman Charitra which is a fascinating blend of cultural traditions. He narrates a biblical tale in classical Sanskrit for his Muslim patron, a sixteenth-century Lodhi prince. The story of David and Bathsheba unfolds sensually, capturing the bathing scene, David's infatuation, his relentless pursuit, and their eventual union, all depicted through the shringara rasa, or the erotic mode, in the divine language of the gods, Classical Sanskrit. It's a Sanskrit rendering of Hebraic and Arabic tales which elegantly brings together the east and the west. In a verse, he wrote:^[4]

There was once a mighty lord of Ayodhya. In splendour and prowess, he was like Indra, the king of gods...Brave and devoted to public welfare, he was the famous King Ahmad, always kind and merciful, a bright jewel of the Lodi line.

References

1. Shastri, Dwarka Prasad (2005). अनङ्गरङ्ग - Anangrang of Mahakavi Kalyan Malla. Chowkhamba Krishnadas Academy. pp. Preface. ISBN 812180180X.
2. Suzanne G. Frayser; Thomas J. Whitby (1995). Studies in human sexuality: a selected guide. Libraries Unlimited. p. 143. ISBN 978-1-56308-131-6. Retrieved 27 March 2012.
3. Parthasarathy, R. (2017). Erotic Poems From the Sanskrit an Anthology. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-54546-4.
4. Malla, Kalyana; Haksar, A.N.D (2015). Suleiman Charitra. Penguin Classics. ISBN 0143420593.