Issued by Nepal

Issued on 1960–61

Type : Stamps, Postal Used

Denomination : 5, 10 and 40 Paisa

Colour :
5 P – claret & brown
10 P – ultra & rose lilac
40 P – violet & red brown

About : 

• SAGARMATHA:
  • Sagarmatha, known as Mount Everest is in the eastern part of Nepalese Himalayan mountain range. It is the highest peak in Nepal and also in the whole world. It rises up to the unparalleled height of 29,002 feet, which is nearly five and a half miles. Its polar height, colossal snows, herculean winds, unearthly cold and diamond-dazzlement present a wonderful dream of sublimity, colour, beauty, virility, life and adventure combined in a reality. Sagarmatha was not known to outside world before 1849 when its exact height and position was found out by a survey, though even prior to this the native people worshipped it as the lofty abode of Lord Shiva. It is then that the thrilling story of struggle between man and this super-mountain began. For a century after its first survey all human attempts to reach its top have been defeated until 29^th May, 1953 when Tenzing Norkey, a son of the soil with his comrade, Edmund Hillary placed Nation’s Flag on its towering height.
• MACHHAPUCHHRE:
  • Mount Machhapuchhre, which literally means the ‘fish-tailed‘, is considered to be one of the exceptionally beautiful mountains of the world. It is situated at a distance of 19 miles north of Pokhara, the Lake District of Nepal. It rises up to the height of 22958 feet.
• MANSALU:
  • 26658 ft. high Mount Mansalu, is one of the famous Himalayan peaks of Nepal. It is situated at a distance of 32 miles north of Kunchha, between the two well-known districts, Pokhara and Gorkha, in western Nepal.

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Issued by Pakistan

Issued on Dec 24, 1960

Type : Stamp, Postal Used

Denomination : 2 Annas

Colours : Multi colour

About : 

• Lord Baden Powell founded the Boys Scout movement in 1907 by holding a camp on Brownsea Island in U.K. The movement attracted a world wide fancy and every where Scout Organizations started. The underlying principles were appreciated all over the world and honoured by issued of commemoratives. The first country in this direction was Hungary to depict Boy Scouts on Sport series 1000 k Stamp of 1925. The first International Jamboree was held at Olympia, London in 1920, and B-P was acclaimed Chief Scout of the World.
• World Jamborees have become one of the most important features of the Scouting Movement and are held every four year, only interrupted by the Second World War. On these occasions the various Nations issue commemoratives showing the dire activities and emblems of the Movement.
• The First Pakistan Scout Jamboree was held at Karachi in 1952. The event was marked by a special cancellation. The Second Jamboree was held at Chittagong in December, 1958. The Third Jamboree is being held at Lahore from December, 24-31, 1960.
• A new stamp bearing the KIM’S GUN – the emblem for 3^rd Jamboree – has been issued to mark the occasion.
• THE ZAMZAMA GUN
  • On a raised platform, opposite the entrance to the Museum, and facing the Mall is placed the famous Zamzama Gun, called also “BHANGIANWALI TOP“. It was placed in this position on the occasion on the visit of His Royal Highness, the Duke of Edinburgh to Lahore in 1870.
  • The ancient piece of ordnance, one of the largest specimen of casting in India, was cast at Lahore, with another gun of the same size in 1757 A.D. by Shah Nazir, under direction of Shah Wali Khan prime minister of the Abdali King Ahmad Shah Durrani. It is made of mixture of copper and brass.
  • Ahmad Shah used it in the famous battle of Panipat in 1761. After battle, on his way back to Kabul, he left it at Lahore with his Governor, Khawaja Ubed, as the carriage for it to Kabul not ready. In 1762 Hari Singh Bhangi made war on Khawaja Ubed and attacked the village of Khawaja Said two miles from Lahore, where the Moghal Governor has his arsenal, and seized his artillery, arms and ammunition. Among the gun captured on this occasion was the Zamzama Gun which thence forward came to be called, after the capture in name, “THE BHANGI TOP“. It lay unmounted in the Shah Burj at Lahore until 1764, when Lahna Singh and Gujjar Singh Bhangio obtained possession of it, on capturing Lahore. It was then carried to Amritsar where it remained in the fort till 1802, when Ranjit Singh expelling the Bhang is from Amritsar, took possession of it. It came to be regarded as a talisman of supremacy, and Ranjit Singh employed it in his campaigns of Daska, Kasur, Sujanpur, Wazirabad and Multan. It was seriously injured at the siege of the last mentioned place in 1818, when it was removed to Lahore as unfit for further service and placed at the Delhi Gate of the city until 1870, when as previously noted it was removed to the present locality.
  • The Kim’s Gun or the Zamzama is very well known in International Scout circles and Rudyard Kipling in his famous story Kim has described the boy called Kim who spent his early boyhood, playing round the famous Gun, called the Zamzama, now lying on the Mall, in front of the Lahore Museum.
  • Kim had lots of adventures and his training in observation stood him in good stead, on many occasions. The founder of the Scout Movement immortalised Kim by accepting him as a great Scout character and instituting, after his name, a great Scout test for observation, in its many forms. With the association of Kim‘s name to this wonderful and historic can-non, Kim has came to be known all over the world, and the Kim’s Gun, as the Jamboree Emblem, will, therefore, be very appealing to all Scouts. One of the foreign visitors regarded Lahore, as the greatest Scout City in the world, to have given such a place of honour to the Gun, named after the famous Scout character, Kim. Thus this famous Kim’s Gun is a great symbol of Scouting throughout the world and it has now been adopted as the Emblem for the 3^rd Pakistan National Jamboree.

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Issued by India

Issued on Dec 11, 1960

Issued for : Since independence, all States in the Indian Union have collaborated closely with UNICEF in the implementation of a wide range of programmes directed towards the improvement of the lot of mothers and children.

It is against this background that the Posts and Telegraphs Department have thought it fit to issue a special commemorative stamp on UNICEF Day.

Type : Stamp, Mint condition

Colour : Light brown (Mineral Red) Raw Sienna

Denomination : 15 naye paise

Size : 3.91 x 2.90 Cms.

Perforation : 13

Watermark : All-over multiple ‘Lion Capital of Asoka‘

Number Printed : 5 Million

Set : 35 stamps per issue sheet

Printing process : Photogravure

About : 

• Established in 1946 by a Resolution of the General Assembly of the United Nations to assist programmes for the benefit of children and adolescents in countries which were victims of aggression and for child health purposes generally, the United Nations Children’s Fund has, today, become an integral part of the world-wide campaign to ensure a better future to the rising generation. By now the UNICEF assists health, nutrition and welfare programmes in nearly 100 countries. This work is financed through voluntary contributions from Governments and donations from the public.
• Prominent on the lists of UNICEF projects is assistance to various countries for building and expanding their basic Maternal and Child Welfare services. This includes basic and permanent health and welfare services for children, especially nutrition and health centres and the training of national personnel to plan and operate these services.
• Equally important are the UNICEF assistance programmes for the control of communicable diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis, yaws, trachoma and leprosy. The UNICEF is however not concerned merely with the control of disease as such, but aims at achieving higher standards of well-being among children, through better nutrition. This includes supplementary feeding schemes, milk conservation, development of protein-rich foods and education of families in better nutritional practices.
• UNICEF has also sponsored programmes of emergency aid for relief of children and mothers in times of natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods, and drought.
• The aim of the Fund, in short, is not merely to provide curative measures against diseases, but “to seek a way to the future, when every child lives and grows within a family unit, which is, in turn, part of a healthy and contented community”.
• The paths to this end are many, beset with difficulties, sometimes overwhelming, but by beginning with these programmes which bring help to large numbers through simple measures, much has been achieved by UNICEF since it first started functioning. The people themselves are now demanding and working for better conditions for their children, and Governments all over the world recognize that provision for social welfare is an investment that they cannot afford to ignore. The creation of this consciousness among the people is reflected in the UNICEF policy of participating in a project only when requested to do so by a Government which contributes a matching expenditure on the project.
• In the words of Shrimati Vijay Lakshmi Pandit when she was the President of the United Nations General Assembly, “The Fund is one of the most vivid examples within the framework of the United Nations of international cooperation for peaceful purposes. Its value lies not only in the lives saved but in the entire communities which it strengthens and in the faith in the United Nations which it establishes and renews wherever it operates“.

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Issued by India

Issued on Nov 14, 1960

Type : Stamp, Postal Used

Colour : Single colour

Denomination : 0.15 naya paisa

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Issued by Morocco

Issued on Sep 26, 1960

Issued for : The 17^th Olympic Games held at Rome, Italy on August 25 to September 11, 1960.

Picture : Different Events from the 17^th Olympic Games 1960 :- 5 f – Wrestlers, 10 f – Gymnast, 15 f – Bicyclist, 20 f – Weight lifter, 30 f – Runner, 40 f – Boxers, 45 f – Sailboat and 70 f – Fencers.

Colour : 5 f – Olive, Violet Blue & Plum, 10 f – Orange Brown, Blue & Brown, 15 f – Emerald, Blue & Orange Brown, 20 f – Ultra, Olive & Brown, 30 f – Violet Blue, Maroon & Sepia, 40 f – Greenish Blue, Dark Purple & Red Brown, 45 f – Green, Plum & Ultra and 70 f – Dark Brown, Blue & Gray.

Type : Stamps, Postal Used

Denomination : 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, 40, 45 & 70 Franc

Printing Process : Engraved

Perforation : 13

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Issued by India

Issued on Sep 15, 1960 

Issued for : A life so devoted to outstanding achievements would constitute a memorable record even at an earlier age but a hundred years of that life are not only worthy of commemoration but also deserving of a place of distinction in the golden lettered records of history. The P&T Department is proud of being associated with the commemoration of his centenary and the stamp which it has the privilege of issuing on this occasion is but a humble tribute from a body of grateful citizens.

Type : Stamp, Postal Used

Colour : Dark brown & Crimson

Denomination : 15 naye paise

Name : Mokshagundam Viswesvarayya

Born on Sep 15, 1861 at Muddenahalli, Chikkaballapura, Kingdom of Mysore [now in Karnataka]

Died on Apr 12, 1962 at Bangalore, Karnataka, India

About : 

• A hundred years in the life of a nation is an age; in the life of an individual it is a marvel but if that life happens to be one of signal achievements in diverse fields of human activity, it constitutes a miracle. Sri M. Visvesvaraya who completes his hundred years in September 1961 can look back upon his century not only with a sense of pride and glory but also as an outstanding contribution to the building up of the Country during a very difficult period of its history.
• Born in a small village in Chickballapur, Taluk of Kolar District, Mysore on September 15, 1861, in a poor Brahmin family, Sri Visvesvaraya became the architect of his own destiny. After completing his education in Engineering with great distinction in 1884, from Poona College, he became an Asstt. Engineer in the P.W.D. of the Bombay Government. Within 3 years he was admitted to the Associate Membership of the Institute of Civil Engineers, London, and very soon he began to take long strides in his chosen profession. In 1894, he was deputed for designing and executing Water works and preparing a drainage and sewerage scheme for the town of Sukkur in Sind. The Governor of Bombay, Lord Sandhurst, described him as the “most able Engineer” the Municipality could provide itself with. Not only in field work but even in research he made his mark and held his position with conspicuousness amongst the best Engineers in the Country and abroad. He travelled extensively and received homage of his professional colleagues wherever he went. His subsequent career was noted for the designing of a new type of waste weir flood gate which was installed at the headwork of Mutha and also a new scheme of irrigation called the “Block system of irrigation” to meet the peculiar problems of the Deccan. By this time his reputation had travelled abroad and Lord Morley, the then Secretary of State for India selected him in 1908 to prepare proposals for a drainage system in Aden. In May of the same year, he retired from the service of the Bombay Govt. at his own request.
• For him however retirement did not mean any cessation of activities; instead it increased the tempo of demands for his services and shortly after retirement and a world tour which he undertook, he was appointed as Special Consulting Engineer to the Government of Hyderabad; Hyderabad City had been seriously affected by the ravages of the Musi river. In 6 months he worked out a complete scheme for protection of the Hyderabad City and was then invited by the Maharaja of Mysore to be his Chief Engineer. Public work was however a passion of his life and acknowledging this, Dewan T. Anand Rao persuaded him that he would have ample opportunities for public service in his new assignment. His service in Mysore State afforded him full opportunities for the exercise of his genius. He designed and constructed a major part of the masonry dam across the Kaveri forming the reservoir now known as the Krishnarajasagar. Gandhiji felt that this project alone was enough to perpetuate his name and no one who visits that spot of beauty and great utility can help endorsing that tribute. His interests began to widen and at his initiative an Economic Conference was brought into existence in Mysore. He appointed a committee on technical education, organized a mechanical and engineering school at Bangalore and subsequently founded the Chamarajendra Technical Institute at Mysore. A comprehensive Railway Programme and the establishment of a railway construction department next engaged his attention.
• After these achievements it was only fitting that he should rise higher in the hierarchy; he was appointed the Dewan of Mysore State on November 10, 1912. His Dewanship was conspicuous for the manner in which he devoted himself to the task of economic reconstruction of Mysore; he set before himself the mission of eradicating poverty and illiteracy, of training the people to live more active and productive life and of ceaseless efforts to secure the betterment of the common man through deliberate planning. Among the achievements of his administration were the establishment of the Mysore University, the Bank of Mysore, the State Engineering College, the Mysore Sericulture Farm, the Mysore Soap Factory, the Mysore Sandal Wood Oil Factory, the Mysore Paper Factory, the Central Industrial Workshop, the Mysore Government Press, the Mysore Cotton Mills, Power Installation at Shimsa, the Mysore Chamber of Commerce, the Mysore Iron and Steel Works at Bhadravati, a planned economic reconstruction of the districts, an efficient audit system, a scheme of foreign training to officers in Government service, village improvement and the new Mysore Treaty with the British Government. During his regime the representative assembly of Mysore acquired larger powers and the Legislative Council was expanded.
• He retired from the Mysore service on 10-6-1919 and thereafter his services were in great demand by the State Governments and public bodies. He represented the Mysore Government in the Committee of Indian Princes and Ministers during the visit of Mr. Montague to India. In 1922 at the political conference of all the parties in India held in Bombay he was voted to the Chair on the proposal of Mr. Jinnah and Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya. He presided over various conferences from time to time; they included the South Indian States Peoples Conference, Trivendrum, Indian Science Congress, Lucknow in January 1923 and the Indian Economic Conference held in Bombay in 1924. He was also associated with the New Delhi Capital Enquiry Committee of 1922, Lloyd Barrage in Sukkur in 1929, construction of flood protection works in Orissa in 1938 and the selection of a site for a Railway bridge on the Ganga in Bihar in 1952.
• To a person of his attainments honours came easy and in profusion. He received Degrees from the various Indian Universities and became a fellow or honorary member of the Council of Institution of Civil Engineers, London, the Institution of Engineers, India, Indian Science Congress Association, Calcutta, Institution of Town Planners, India, Council of the Institute of Consulting Engineers, Calcutta and the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. In 1955 the supreme state award of “Bharat Ratna” was conferred on him and in 1958 the Asiatic Society of Bengal awarded him the Durga Prasad Khaitan Memorial Gold Medal.
• He is the author of many publications and works, the most important of which are: (1) Reconstructing India (2) Planned Economy for India (3) Memoirs of my Working Life and (4) A brief Memoir of my complete working life.

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Issued by India

Issued on Sep 11, 1960

Type : Stamp, Postal Used

Colour : Dark blue

Denomination : 15 naye paise

Size : 3.34 x 2.88 Cms.

Perforation : 13½ x 14

Watermark : All-over multiple ‘Lion Capital of Asoka‘

Number Printed : 11 Million

Set : 42 stamps per issue sheet

Printing Process : Photogravure

Name : Subramanian

Born on Dec 11, 1882 at Ettayapuram, Tirunelveli district, Madras Presidency, British India [now in Thoothukudi district, Tamil Nadu]

Died on Sep 11, 1921 at Madras, Madras Presidency, British India [now in Tamil Nadu]

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Issued by Russia

Issued on Aug 1, 1960

Issued for : The 17^th Olympic Games held at Rome, Italy on August 25 to September 11, 1960.

Picture : Different Events from the 17^th Olympic Games 1960 :- 5 k – Running, 10 k – Wrestling, 15 k – Basketball, 20 k – Weight Lifting, 25 k – Boxing, 40 k – Fencing, 40 k – Diving, 40 k – Women’s Gymnastics, 60 k – Canoeing and 1 r – Steeplechase.

Colour : 5 k – Multicolored, 10 k – Brown, Blue & Yellow, 15 k – Multicolored, 20 k – Black, Crimson & Salmon, 25 k – Lake, Silver & Rose, 40 k – Violet Blue, Blue & Bistre, 40 k – Violet, Gray & Pink, 40 k – Multicolored, 60 k – Multicolored and 1 r – Brown, Lilac & Pale Green.

Type : Stamps, Postal Used

Denomination : 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 40, 40, 40 & 60 Kopecks and 1 Ruble

Printing Process : Lithographed

Perforation : 11½

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Issued by United Arab Republic

Issued on Jul 23, 1960

Issued for : The 17^th Olympic Games held at Rome, Italy on August 25 to September 11, 1960.

Picture : Different Events from the 1960 Summer Olympics :- 5 m – Weight Lifter, 5 m – Basketball, 5 m – Soccer, 10 m – Fencing, 10 m – Rowing, 30 m – Steeplechase and 35 m – Swimming.

Colour : 5 m – Gray, 5 m – Brown, 5 m – Deep Claret, 10 m – Bright Carmine, 10 m – Gray Green, 30 m – Purple and 35 m – Dark Blue.

Type : Stamps, Postal Used

Watermark : Yes [ U A R ]

Denomination : 5, 5, 5, 10, 10, 30 & 35 Milliemes

Printing Process : Photographed

Perforation : 13½ x 13

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Issued by India

Issued on Jun 22, 1960

Issued for : It is for all these reasons that Kālidāsa‘s influence over his contemporaries and his successors has been profound. In fact, such has been his hold on the Sanskrit literary world that once, when the poets were being counted, Kālidāsa, being the first, occupied the last finger, but none could come upto even the second place and the ring finger has consequently remained nameless, anāmikā as it is referred to in Sanskrit. On Indian poetry in particular and on Indian art in general, the stamp of his genius and inspiration has been enduring. The excellence and the quality of his works have created a widening circle of admirers abroad, and if the Posts and Telegraphs Department, departing from normal tradition and policy, has decided to commemorate this illustrious poet-dramatist with the issue of two stamps unrelated to any conventional anniversary but related to a date in one of his own works, it is as a humble tribute to the great and honoured place which Kālidāsa occupies among the world’s most illustrious authors and which his works have achieved in the libraries and literatures of the world.

Design : The two stamps illustrating scenes from his great works viz., the Meghadūta and the Śākuntala are being issued on the first day of Āsādha (June 22, 1960), the day on which the Yaksa of the Meghadūta, while sojourning in Rāmagiri, appealed to the Cloud to carry his message to his beloved in Alakā on Mount Kailash.

The picturization is based, in the first case, on a painting by Professor Radha Charan Bagchi of Kala Bhavan, Santiniketan, and, in the second, on a painting by the late Raja Ravi Varma celebrated in this country for his portrayals of figures and scenes from classical and mythological life and lore. Incidentally, this was the very first painting done by the Raja on Indian mythology in 1878. The designs of the two stamps have been executed by the staff artists of the India Security Press – P. B. Chitnis and K. M. Dhar.

The scene from the Śākuntala depicts the incident of her writing a love-letter to her beloved Duś yanta in the midst of the sylvan beauty of the hermitage of her adopted father, the sage Kanva. The scene from the Meghadūta represents the Yaksa, pleading with the Cloud to convey his message of love and pathos to his beloved in far-off Alakā.

The stamps bear as theme the following verses out of the two works that they seek to represent :–

आषाढस्य प्रथमदिवसे मेघमाश्लिष्ट सानु
वप्रक्रीडापरिणतगजप्रेक्षणीयं ददर्श।। – Meghadūta I. 2.

तब ना जाने हृदयं मम पुनः कामो दिवापि रात्रावापि ।
निर्घृण ! तपति बलियः । – Abhijnāna-Śākuntala III. 13.

Select extracts of Kālidāsa‘s works are also appended in this brochure to bring out the various qualities and characteristics of his works and art. They are by no means a substitute for a study of the original but are intended only to provide a small window to the wide vista of his works and art. – (V. Shankar, Director-General, Posts and Telegraphs)

The cover of this brochure bears an imprint of the beautiful terracotta medallion found at Bhita Excavations in the year 1872. Measuring 3″ in diameter, it carries a scene from Kālidāsa‘s Śākuntala, in which King Duś yanta with his charioteer is being entreated not to kill the antelope which has he fled for refuge to Kanva‘s hermitage. The verse corresponding to this scene is reproduced on the cover page and an English translation appears below.

Why should his tender form expire,
As blossoms perish in the fire ?
How could that gentle life endure
The deadly arrow, sharp and sure ?
– Abhijnāna-Śākuntala I. 10.
(Translation by Arthur W. Ryder).

Type : Stamp, Postal Used

Colour :
15 nP. – Grey
Rs. 1.03 – Yellow and Dark Brown

Denomination : 15 nP. and Rs. 1.03

Size : 3.91 x 2.90 cms.

Perforation : 13

Watermark : All-over multiple ‘Lion Capital of Asoka‘

Number printed :
15 nP. – 30 million
Rs. 1.03 – 15 million

Set : 35 stamps per issue sheet

Printing Process : Photogravure

About : 

• Kālidāsa, the foremost poet and dramatist in Sanskrit literature, is a treasured and invaluable part of India‘s heritage, pre-eminent in a most glorious chapter of its past. This star of matchless brilliance on India’s literary firmament shone with splendour in times which must have produced a galaxy of talent. Whether we accept the earliest period (the last century before Christ) or the latest (the fourth century after Christ), during which probably he flourished, there can scarcely be any doubt that that period was one of great patronage of art and literature, of leisure and prosperity, and of valour and greatness.
• Little is known of Kālidāsa‘s life either in history or in his works. In these he reveals the Indian world around him but gives few glimpses of himself. It was, therefore, inevitable that legend and tradition should have endowed him with an origin which enhanced the merit of his subsequent accomplishments and his art with a divine inspiration and stimulus. It is beyond dispute, however, that whatever his origin and whatever his learning, he was an accomplished devotee of the fine arts, particularly poetry and song, dance and drama; was a seasoned traveller and had thus gained a good knowledge of the geography of his country; was well versed in contemporary laws and the philosophical systems, religious principles, traditions and ritual practices. He had the painter’s eye for realism and beauty, the scientist’s precision of observation and description, the householder’s love of peaceful and settled life, the worldly-wise man’s sense of human values, the devotee’s love of the divine and the religious, and the master craftsman’s use of the supernatural to serve a mundane ethical purpose.
• It is this versatility of his genius and essentially human approach to his themes and characters that endows his personality and works with a universality which places him among the foremost literary figures of the world – Homer, Plato, Sophocles, Virgil, Shakespeare and Milton. Whether he dealt with an epic theme as in the Raghuvamśa, or described the beauties of nature as in the Rtusamhāra or portrayed mythological scenes and characters as in the Kumārasambhava or dramatised human characters as in the Śākuntala or turned to a pure lyrical and imaginative subject as in the Meghadūta, Kālidāsa‘s appeal is essentially one of rich human experiences and ideals. It has been said of Shakespeare that he had no heroes but only heroines; Kālidāsa in a sense has neither heroes nor heroines; his characters live through the pages of his works as human beings with their human virtues and foibles. Even the religious figures and supernatural beings appear to us in humanized garbs, displaying either the perfection of human attributes or the translation of the “desirable” in human beings to a divine plane.
• In a life so rich in human experiences, in works so high in excellence and attainments and in art so great in accomplishment, it is not easy to choose representative works for purposes of epitomisation. To contain a big canvas of varied art in small dimensions is difficult enough in the normal course; in the case of Kālidāsa the task is rendered even more difficult because of the vast field of life that he has taken in his artistic stride. Kālidāsa is essentially the product of his time; whether we regard it as the period of Vikramāditya of Ujjain, the founder of the Vikrama era, or as the golden age of the Gupta dynasty during the reign of Chandragupta Vikramāditya, the hero of many a battle, great administrator and rare patron of fine arts – the age of Kālidāsa was one of those rare periods of history in which life appears to find its fulfilment in different channels of human endeavour.
• The extant works which by common consent bear the unmistakable signs of his authorship are seven in number and comprise the following :–
  • (i) Abhijnāna-Śākuntala – a drama dealing with the love and marriage of Duś yanta, the King and Śākuntala, a child of nature bringing joy and beauty to the hermitage of a sage. The theme is taken from the great epic – The Mahābhārata.
  • (ii) Vikramorvaśīya – a drama dealing with the love and marriage of Purūravas and Urvaśī.
  • (iii) Mālavikāgnimitra – a drama dealing with the love of Mālavikā and Agnimitra.
  • (iv) Raghuvamśa – an epic poem describing the history, reigns and lives of the kings of the Solar race which included Rāma, the hero of The Rāmāyana.
  • (v) Kumārasambhava – an epic poem dealing with an entirely religious theme, the marriage of Śiva and Pārvatī and the birth of their son Kumāra.
  • (vi) Meghadūta or The Cloud Messenger – describing the journey of a Cloud carrying the message of an exiled Yaksa to his beloved, separated from him.
  • (vii) Rtusamhāra – a descriptive account of the six seasons with their variety, beauty and colour.
• Of these the most widely known, read and appreciated is the Śākuntala, first translated into English by Sir William Jones in 1789 and now adorning the libraries of almost all the languages of the world. It is this play which brought forth from Goethe the following tribute :“Wouldst thou the young year’s blossoms and the fruits of its decline,
  And all by which the soul is charmed, enraptured, feasted, fed,
  Wouldst thou the earth and heaven itself in one sole name combine?
  I name thee, O Śākuntala, and all at once is said.“
• The next best-known work of the Poet is the Meghadūta, a lyrical, imaginative masterpiece rooted in the pathos and passion of separated and pinning love and placed in the midst of the vast geographical panorama stretching from the plains of Narmada and Tapti to the snow ranges of the Himālayas – “the abode of Gods”, which, judging from his raptures over the mountain in the Kumārasambhava, were “the measuring rod of the world”. Kālidāsa‘s love of nature and eye for beauty of natural scenery find their full expression in all his plays and poems and nowhere so superbly as in the description of the seasons in the Rtusamhāra, of the journey of the Cloud through different territories in the Meghadūta and of the rivers, mountains, animals, forests and trees in the Kumārasambhava, Raghuvamśa and Śākuntala. His interpretation and ideals of life and his analysis of human moods and emotions are presented in his three dramas and two epic poems with mastery and richness combined with practical idealism which only sympathetic imagination, varied experience and balanced judgement can produce.
• पृच्छन्ती वा मधुरवचनां सारिकां पत्ज़रस्थं
  कच्चिदृर्तुः स्मरसि रसिके त्वं हि तस्य प्रियति ।— मेघदुते (उत्तरमेघे) २२

  Or asks the caged, sweetly-singing Starling
  “Do you remember, dear Lord? You were his darling”
  
  — Meghadūta II. 22. (Translation by Arthur W. Ryder).

• वागर्थाबिब संपृक्तौ वागर्थप्रतिपत्तये ।
  जगतः पितरो बन्दे पार्वतीपरमेशरो ॥— रघुवंशे १-१

  God Śiva and his mountain bride
  Like Word and meaning unified,
  The World’s great parents, I beseech
  To join fit meaning to my speech.
  
  — Raghuvamśa I. 1. (Translation by Arthur W. Ryder).

• द्रुमाः सपुष्पाः सलिलं सपद्मं
  स्त्रियः सकामाः पवनः सुगन्धिः ।
  सुखाः प्रदोषा दिवसाश्च रम्याः
  सर्वं प्रिये चारुतरं वसन्ते ॥— ऋतुसंहारे ६-२

  Their blossom – burden weights the trees;
  The winds in fragrance move;
  The lakes are bright with Lotuses;
  The woman bright with love;
  The days are soft, the evenings clear
  And charming, everything
  That moves and lives and blossoms, dear,
  Is sweeter in the Spring.
  
  — Rtusamhāra VI. 2. (Translation by Arthur W. Ryder).

• तन्वी श्यामा शिखरिदशना पक्वबिम्बाधरोष्ठी
  मध्ये क्षामा चकितहरिणीप्रेक्षणा निम्ननाभिः ।
  श्रोणीभारादलसगमना स्तोकनम्रा स्तनाम्या
  या तत्र स्याधुवतिविषये सृष्टिराधेव धातुः ॥— मेघदुते (उत्तरमेघे) १९

  The supremest woman from God‘s workshop gone –
  Young, slender; little teeth and red, red lips,
  Slight waist and gentle eyes of timid fawn,
  An idly graceful movement, generous hips,
  Fair bosom into which the sloping shoulder slips.
  
  — Meghadūta II. 19. (Translation by Arthur W. Ryder).

• अस्त्युत्तरस्यां दिशि देवतात्मा हिमालयो नाम नगाधिराजः ।
  पूर्वापरौ तोयनिधी वगाह्म स्थितः पृथिव्या इव मानदण्डः ॥— कुमारसम्भवे १-१

  God of distant north, the Snowy Range
  O’er other mountains towers imperially;
  Earth’s measuring-rod, being great and free from change,
  Sinks to the eastern and the western sea.
  
  — Kumārasambhava I. 1. (Translation by Arthur W. Ryder).

• गृहिणी सचिवः सखी मित्रः प्रियशिष्या ललिते कलाविधो ।
  करुणाविमुखेन मृत्युना हरता त्वां वद किं न मे हुतम ॥— रघुवंशे ८-६७

  You were my comrade gay, my home, my treasure,
  You were my bosom’s friend, in all things true,
  My best-loved pupil in the arts of pleasure :
  Stern death took all I had in taking you.
  
  — Raghuvamśa VIII. 67. (Translation by Arthur W. Ryder).

• शरीरसादादसमग्रभुषणा
  मुखेन सालक्ष्यत लोध्रपाण्डुना ।
  तनुप्रकाशेन विचेयतारका
  प्रभातकल्पा शशिनेब शर्बरी ॥— रघुवंशे ३-२

  Weary at Dawn with fewer Jewel stars
  The expecting queen looked but the Night;
  And her face pale as a lodhra flower
  Matched the moon of feeble light.
  
  — Raghuvamśa III. 2. (Translation by S. B. Velankar).

• सशीकराम्भोधरमत्तकुञ्जर-
  स्तडिप्तताकोशनिशब्दमर्दलः ।
  समागतो राजवदुद्यतद्युति-
  र्घनागमः कामिजनप्रियः प्रिये ॥— ऋतुसंहारे २-१

  The rain advances like a King
  In awful majesty;
  Hear, dearest, how his thunders ring
  Like royal drums, and see
  His lightning – banners wave; a cloud
  For elephant he rides,
  And finds his welcome from the crowd
  of lovers and of brides.
  
  — Rtusamhāra II. 1. (Translation by Arthur W. Ryder).

• अनातूरोत्कण्ठितयोः प्रसिध्यता समागमेनापि रतिर्न मां प्रति ।
  परस्परप्राप्तिनिराशयोर्वरं शरीरनाशोहपी समानुरागयोः ॥— मालबिकाग्निमित्रे ३-१५

  “I do not approve of the union, even if successfully brought about, of two lovers, one of whom is ardent, and the other indifferent; it is better that an equally enamoured pair should even pine away hopeless of mutual happiness.”

  — Mālavikāgnimitra III. 15. (Translation by C. H. Tawney).

• तन्वी मेघजलार्द्रपल्लवतया धौताधरेवाक्षुभिः
  शून्येवाभरणैः स्वकालविरहाद्दिक्षान्तपुष्पोदगमा ।
  चिन्तामौनमिवास्थिता मधुलिहां शब्दैर्बिना लक्ष्यते ।
  चण्डी मामवधुय पादपतितं जातानुतापेव सा ॥— विक्रमोर्वशीये ४-३८

  What means this strange emotion, as I gaze
  Upon this vine? No blossoms deck its boughs;
  Nipped by the falling rains, like briny tears,
  That wash the ruddy freshness from the lips,
  The buds have perished, and the mournful shrub
  All unadorned appears to pine in absence;
  No bees regale her with their songs; silent
  And sad, she lonely shows the image
  Of my repentent love, who now laments
  Her causeless indignation.
  
  — Vikramorvaśīya IV. 38. (Translation by H. H. Wilson).

• आलक्ष्य दन्तमुकुलाननिमित्तहासै-
  रव्यक्तवर्णरमणीयवचः प्रवृत्तीन ।
  अङ्कश्रयप्रणयिनस्तनयान वहन्तो
  धन्यास्तदङ्गरजसा मलिनीभवन्ती ॥— अभिज्ञानशाकुन्तले ७-१७

  They show their little buds of teeth
  In peals of causeless laughter;
  They hide their trustful heads beneath
  Your heart. And stumbling after
  Come sweet, unmeaning sounds that sing
  To you. The father warms
  And loves the very dirt they bring
  Upon their little forms.
  
  — Abhijnāna-Śākuntala VII. 17. (Translation by Arthur W. Ryder).

• प्रवर्ततां प्रकृतिहिताय पार्थिवः
  सरस्वती श्रुतिमहती महीयताम ।
  समापि च क्षपयतू नीललोहितः
  पुनर्भवं परिगणशक्तिरात्मभूः ॥— अभिज्ञानशाकुन्तले ७-३४

  May Kingship benefit the land,
  And wisdom grow in scholars’ band;
  May Śiva see my faith on earth
  And make me free of all rebirth.
  
  — Abhijnāna-Śākuntala VII. 34. (Translation by Arthur W. Ryder).

• सरसिजमनुबिद्धं शैवलेनापि रम्यं
  मलिनमपि हिमांशोर्लक्ष्म लक्ष्मीं तनोति ।हयमधिकमनोजा वल्कलेनापि तन्वी
  किमिव हि मधुराणां मण्डनं नाकृतीनाम ॥

  — अभिज्ञानशाकुन्तले १-१७

  The meanest vesture glows
  On beauty that enchants:
  The lotus lovelier shows
  Amid dull water-plants;

  The moon in added splendour
  Shines for its spot of dark;
  Yet more the maiden slender
  Charms in her dress of bark.
  
  — Abhijnāna-Śākuntala I. 17. (Translation by Arthur W. Ryder).

• रम्याणि वीक्ष्य मधुरांश्च निशम्य शब्दान
  पर्युत्सुकीभवति यत्सुखितोहपि जन्तुः ।
  तच्चेतसा स्मरति नूनमबोधपूर्व
  भावस्थिराणि जननान्तरसौहदानि ॥ 

  — अभिज्ञानशाकुन्तले ५-२In face of sweet presentment
  Or harmonies of sound,
  Man e’ver forgets contentment,
  By wishful longings bound.
  There must be recollections
  Of things not seen on earth,
  Deep nature’s predilections,
  Loves earlier than birth.

  — Abhijnāna-Śākuntala V. 2. (Translation by Arthur W. Ryder).

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