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Vol. V, No. 9.] The Origin of Indian Drama. 361 
[N.8.] 
The geography of this book shows its antiquity, and the 
distribution of its languages too shows its antiquity. 
The Indian drama is connected with the raising of the 
flagstaff of Indra. The Jarjara in fact is the emblem of Indian 
rama, and it represents the flagstaff of Indra. The raising 
of the flagstaff seems to have been an ancient survival of a 
still more ancient ceremony widely prevalent all over the world. 
This is what is called the May-pole in England. After the 
winter is over and the fair weather sets in, the village people 
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raised a flagstaff in token of his victory. The merrymaking 
continued all the same, developing dramatic literature in the 
plain of India and grotesque masquerading in Nepal. The 
ceremony of Indrayatra is still the principal ceremony in N epal. 
No flagstaff is raised, but images of Indra are made with out- 
stretched hands, reminding people of the flagstaff. So drama in 
India is connected with a very ancient ceremony, call it Indian 
Gr — Indo-Aryan, but it has nothing to do with the later 
eeks, 
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