The Psychology of Rasa: Understanding Emotional Responses to Art and Performance

The Rasa of the antique Indian perception of the concept of emotions is aroused by the art and the performance. The Rasa theory started with Natyashastra of Bharata Muni, and it is founded on the transformation of expressed emotions, or bhavas, into aesthetic experiences, or rasas, in the mind of an audience. The article is the exploration of psychological grounds of Rasa in a modern context that entails the role of cognitive and emotional processes in achieving a response to theatrical, dance, and musical performances. An interview was set up with performing artists, psychology students and art lovers to learn their perceptions in emotional experience in art. The fact that Rasa is closely related to contemporary ideas of emotion management, empathy, and aesthetic experience has been found. The research illustrates that Rasa system has provided an eternal connection between ancient aesthetics and modern psychology theory in the explanation of how human affairs respond to art by their emotions.