Category:Mādhavānala and Kāmakandalā

The legend of Madhavanala and Kamakandala is a love story found in Hindu texts such as the 15th-century Madhavanala Kamakandala Prabhandha. It is also found in Jain texts such as the Mādhavānalakāmakandalākathā, and in Muslim versions. Madhava is described as a handsome and exceptional musician from a Brahmin family who travels around making music and singing love stories from Hindu texts such as those about Krishna, Nala-Damayanti and others. His charms are legendary. Women scream, weep and run after him, but Madhava goes on to his next stop. One day he arrives in Pushpavati (Bilhari). His music and songs make the queen and palace women go wild. The king is worried and jealous. Madhava meets a courtesan's daughter named Kamakandala. He is smitten by her. She by him. They meet. They fall in love. The king, worried by the effect of Madhava on the women in Pushpavati, banishes Madhava from his kingdom. Madhava goes to Ujjain. The story is long, full of plots and passions, as the two lovers try to reconnect. The legend in presented in two versions in pre-14th century Hindu texts. In one, the king learns about their unending love, helps them meet again and get married. In another version, ultimately, due to misinformation and fabricated lies, the lovers die, in a sequence somewhat similar to Romeo and Juliet.

This story has been the subject of regional Hindu plays as well as several 16th to 18th-century Mughal paintings. In Bilhari, Madhya Pradesh – the site where Madhavanala and Kamakandala meet for the first time – there are ruins of a palace and temple named after Kamakandala.