64 Kalas (चतुःषष्टिः कलाः)

Kala (Samskrit: कला) or Art is a vital component of the Ancient Indian Education System. They are disciplines, a student acquires knowledge of, during the course of training in the गुरुकुल ॥ Gurukula. They are called as चतुःषष्टिः कलाः ॥ Chatusshashti Kala since they are 64 in number.

परिचयः ॥ Introduction

भारतवर्षः ॥ Bharatavarsha (Ancient Indian Sub-continent) has always attached great value to knowledge. Talking of India's knowledge tradition, Kapil Kapoor says "India's

knowledge tradition is ancient and uninterrupted like the flow of the river Ganga." ज्ञानम् ॥ Jnana (Knowledge) has been at the centre of all speculations in India. There are three terms that appear in all discussions related to knowledge:

• दर्शनम् ॥ Darshana
• ज्ञानम् ॥ Jnana
• विद्या ॥ Vidya

दर्शनम् ॥ Darshana literally means "a point of view" which leads to ज्ञानम् ॥ Jnana (knowledge). When this knowledge, gathered about a particular domain is organized and systematized for purposes of, चिन्तनम् ॥ Chintana (reflection) and अध्यापनम् ॥ Adhyapana (pedagogy), it attains the status of विद्या ॥ Vidya (discipline).

The tradition always talks of a combination 18 major विद्याः ॥ Vidyas (disciplines of knowledge) and 64 कलाः ॥ kalas (arts) while referring to the curriculum of Ancient Indian Education.

The 18 विद्याः ॥ Vidyas include:

• चतुर्वेदाः ॥ The Four Vedas: ऋग्वेदः ॥ Rigveda, यजुर्वेदः ॥ Yajurveda, सामवेदः ॥ Samaveda and अथर्ववेदः ॥ Atharvaveda
• चत्वारः उपवेदाः ॥ The Four subsidiary Vedas: आयुर्वेदः ॥ Ayurveda (medicine), धनुर्वेदः ॥ Dhanurveda (weaponry), गान्धर्ववेदः ॥ Gandharvaveda (music) and शिल्पशास्त्रम् ॥ Shilpashastra (architecture)

• चत्वारि उपाङ्गानि ॥ The Four Upangas: पुराणम् ॥ Purana, न्यायः ॥ Nyaya, मीमांसा ॥ Mimamsa, धर्मशास्त्रम् ॥ Dharma Shastra

• षड्वेदाङ्गानि ॥ The Six Vedangas (Auxiliary Sciences): शिक्षा ॥ Shiksha (phonetics), व्याकरणम् ॥ Vyakarana (grammar), छन्दस् ॥ Chandas (metre), ज्योतिष् ॥ Jyotish (astronomy), कल्पः ॥ Kalpa (ritual) and निरुक्तम् ॥ Nirukta (etymology)

However, as far as the कलाः ॥ kalas (arts) are concerned, there are competing enumerations of 64.

Which are the 64 Kalas ?

As mentioned above, there are slight variations regarding the enumeration of the 64 कलाः ॥ Kalas (arts). The mention of these arts occur in:

• महाभारतम् ॥ Mahabharata by व्यासमहर्षिः ॥ Vyasa Maharshi
• कामसूत्रम् ॥ Kamasutra by वात्स्यायनः ॥ Vatsyayana
• नाट्यशास्त्रम् ॥ Natya Shastra by भरतमुनिः ॥ Bharatamuni
• भगवतपुराणम् ॥ Bhagavata Purana by व्यासमहर्षिः ॥ Vyasa Maharshi
• शुक्रनीतिः ॥ Shukraneeti by शुक्राचार्यः ॥ Shukracharya
• शिवतत्त्वरत्नाकरः ॥ Shivatattvaratnakara by बसवराजेन्द्रः ॥ Basavarajendra

The list of the 64 Kalas in these texts have been juxtaposed in the following table:

Text	महाभारतम्	कामसूत्रम्	नात्यशास्त्रम्	भागवतपुराणम्	शैवतन्त्राणि	शुक्रनीतिः	शिवतत्वरत्नाकरः
1					Singing
2					Playing on various musical instruments
3					Dancing
4					Acting, gesticulation, mimicry
5					Drawing, Painting, Calligraphy
6					Painting figures of various designs on the various parts of the body with musk paste and other fragrant substances.
7					Preparing for use in worship various designs with grains of rice, flowers, etc
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64