Kanishtha, or kanistha, is a dancer or an actress performing the role of a minor character. Nartaki, or the female dancer in Indian classical dance, performs a variety of roles in dance dramas and in solo repertoires. The nayikas (heroines) in the dance-drama traditions are classified according to their birth, their association with the nayaka (hero), being either the husband or lover, or their behavior offending the partner. The heroines primarily belong to three classes depending on their birth – uttama (superior); madhyama (middle) and adhama (inferior). Though nayikas are categorized under these three classes, Rasa Manjari (a treatise on theory of emotive expressions) written by Bhanu Datta, describes 384 types of heroines in relation to heroes. The madhyama heroine is of two kinds, jyestha (senior) wife and kanishtha (junior wife) who has less regard for the husband in spite of being the favorite one. She is kulastri (of noble birth) and has the status of being a sviya (lawf