Mahakavya

The genre is characterised by ornate and elaborate descriptions of phenomena such as scenery, love, and battles.

His Buddhacarita (Acts of the Buddha) calls itself a mahākāvya and was influential enough to be translated into both Tibetan and Chinese.

Each poem is composed in a metre that is fitting to the subject matter, such as a description of the seasons, a geographical form of nature such as a mountain, and cities.

[8]Some modern mahākāvyas do not aim to satisfy all the traditional criteria, and take as their subject historical matter (such as Rewa Prasad Dwivedi's Svatantrya Sambhavam on the Indian independence movement, or K.N.

Varnekar's Shrishivarajyodayam on Shivaji, M. S. Aney's Sritilakayasornavah on Bal Gangadhar Tilak, or P. C. Devassia's Kristubhagavatam on Jesus Christ).