The Natya Shastra (Sanskrit: Nāṭyaśāstra नाट्य शास्त्र) is an ancient Indian treatise on the performing arts, encompassing theatre, dance and music. It was written during the period between 200 BC and 200 AD in classical India and is traditionally attributed to the Sage Bharata.

The Natya Shastra is incredibly wide in its scope. While it primarily deals with stagecraft, it has come to influence music, classical Indian dance, and literature as well. It covers stage design, music, dance, makeup, and virtually every other aspect of stagecraft. It is very important to the history of Indian classical music because it is the only text which gives such detail about the music and instruments of the period. Thus, an argument can be made that the Natya Shastra is the foundation of the fine arts in India. The most authoritative commentary on the Natya Shastra is Abhinavabharati by Abhinavagupta.

The text, which now contains 6000 slokas, is attributed to the muni (sage) Bharata and is believed to have been written during the period between 200 BC and 200 AD. The Natya Shastra is based upon the much older Gandharva Veda (appendix to Sama Veda) which contained 36000 slokas. Unfortunately there are no surviving copies of the Natya Veda. Though many scholars believe most slokas were transmitted only through the oral tradition, there are scholars who believe that it may have been written by various authors at different times.

Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia (born 1 July 1938) is an Indian classical instrumentalist. He is a player of the bansuri, the Indian bamboo flute.

Hariprasad Chaurasia was born in Allahabad in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. His father was a wrestler. His mother died when he was 6. He had to learn music without his father's knowledge, for his father wanted him to become a wrestler. He did go to the Akhada and train with his father for some time, although he also started learning music, and practising at his friend's house. He often credits his wrestling training for giving him the immense stamina and lung power that are the hallmarks of his flute playing, stating that,

Hariprasad Chaurasia started learning vocal music from his neighbor, Pandit Rajaram at the age of 15. Later, he switched to playing the flute under the tutelage of Pandit Bholanath Prasanna of Varanasi for eight years. He joined the All India Radio, Cuttack, Orissa in 1957 and worked as a composer and performer Much later, while working for All India Radio he received guidance from the reclusive Annapurna Devi, daughter of Baba Allaudin Khan.

Amar Nath Kak (1889–1963) was a prominent Kashmiri lawyer and author who's most important books are Hamara Vrittanta and the Gayatri, both written in Hindi. He was the older brother of Kashmiri archaeologist and politician Ram Chandra Kak.

Hamara Vrittanta contains information on the social and religious life of Kashmiri Pandits in the first half of the 20th century. It also presents the drama of the war between India and Pakistan.

Shivkumar Sharma (born January 13, 1938, Jammu, India) is an Indian Santoor player. The Santoor is a folk instrument from Kashmir and Jammu. Sharma is often referred to by the title Pandit.

Born in Jammu to the singer Uma Dutt Sharma. His mother tongue is Dogri. In a 1999 interview to rediff.com, Shivkumar said that his father started teaching him vocals and tabla when he was just five. He goes on to say that Uma Dutt Sharma did "extensive research" on Santoor, and decided that Shivkumar should be the first Musician to play Indian Classical Music on Santoor. So he started learning Santoor at the age of thirteen, and made Uma Dutt Sharma's dream come true. He gave his first public performance in Bombay in 1955.

Shivkumar Sharma is the master instrumentalist of the Santoor, after some years as a vocalist. He is credited with making the Santoor a popular Classical Instrument. In a 1999 interview to rediff.com, Shivkumar said that it was his father who decided that he should play the Santoor and that he never thought he would be choosing it when he started learning music. He composed the music of Shantaram's Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje in 1956. He recorded his first solo album in 1960.