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Columns in the navacault in the Vimalavasthi temple.
The simplest combinations of dance movement discussed in the Natya Sastra, the ancient treatise on Indian dance, are karanas; they define aesthetically pleasing movements of hands and feet in dance. One hundred and eight such karanas are described in the treatise. The depiction of these karanas in temples is believed to go back to eighth century during the time of Dantivarman Pallava. However, the earliest carvings of eighty-one karanas still intact in south India are inside the main shrine of the BỊhadisvara temple at Tanjore (985-1014 A.D.).
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