Ascent to Darkness: Sacred Dance in Jayadeva’s Gītagovinda and Nizami’s Layla Majnun

Lalita Sinha

Ascent to Darkness: Sacred Dance in Jayadeva’s Gītagovinda and Nizami’s Layla Majnun

Authors

Lalita Sinha

Keywords:

sacred dance, Layla and Majnun, mystical poetry, bhakti and Sufism, transcendence

Abstract

The article Ascent to Darkness by Lalita Sinha draws a parallel between Jayadeva’s Gīta Govinda and Nizami’s Layla Majnun, focusing on sacred love and spiritual yearning. Sinha interprets dance as a metaphor for the dissolution of the self in divine passion, and explores shared tropes of longing and madness in bhakti and Sufi traditions.