India is endowed with a rich cultural heritage founded on the profound faith of the Indians on religion. Tracing down the history of Indian classical dances, one would find that the temples provided the platform for expression of many forms of art, particularly dance, which had 'Bhakti' or devotion as its underlying essence.

This book throws light to all the eight classical dance forms of India, highlighting their individual styles and presentation. The evolution of each dance form has been a gradual process. Each form underwent a mingling of drama, music and rhythm with emphasis on stylisation, individualism, concentration and elaboration of themes relating to major deities of Hinduism, as well as a development of a vocabulary of repertoire arranged in a systematic fashion.

In this study the author has made a synopsis of the dance forms, including their background in details. The interesting element that comes to light is that those dance forms which were practised by male artistes did not require any rechristening while few of the others needed a change of name to gain respectability. The social renaissance that ensued in the twentieth century, brought about a cultural resurgence, and the former glorified status of all the dance forms has been regained, which in turn has added colour to India's identity in the international arena.