Didarganj Yakshini | A Peek into the Past | Radha Gupta

Hello and welcome to Shubhranjan IAS. I am Radha Gupta and today we are going to discuss a very interesting sculpture in our new series, A Peek into the Past. Now, this is the picture of one of the stamps released during Festival of India in 1985. If you look at the image, you will think who is this woman who is depicted on this particular stamp. So, this was a commemorative stamp to commemorate Didarganj Yaksha. Who is Didarganj Yaksha and why it is very important for India as a nation and our cultural heritage? That is something that we will try to understand here. First, I will tell you the story about how she was found. So, she was found by accident. It was an accidental discovery which happened in 1917. What happened? See, there are many stories. One of the very popular ones is that there was this flood and when the flood receded, there was one man who was walking on the banks of Ganges in the Didarganj area and what happened? He happened to see this pedestal. So, what did he think? That this pedestal is a very hard surface and it will be useful to wash clothes. Earlier, they used to wash clothes on hard surfaces. So, what he started doing? He started removing the mud around and to remove the pedestal, this whole image was found. So, when this whole image was found, people thought that she is a goddess that has appeared and they started worshipping it for a brief period of time. Later, they were convinced by people who were experts in archaeology and history that she is not a goddess. Why she is not a goddess? Because she is holding this chauri or fly whisk. So, it is the sign of an attendant. So, this discovery happened and you might think that such discoveries keep happening on a regular basis. What is so important about this particular sculpture that we are discussing it today and there was a commemorative stamp issued in her name. So, if you look at it, there is a very clear cut Mauryan polish which is a very distinctive feature of Mauryan sculptures. Why this Mauryan sculpture is important? Because, when you are studying your colonial, modern India and the history of colonialism, you will study that colonialists, they were justifying their rule by various means. What they were saying? They were saying that you are a country of philosophers and snake charmers, you do not know how to rule. Then, there was the discovery of Arthashastra in 1905 which changed a lot of things. Now, they started saying that you did not know the art of making life-size freestanding statues. You learnt it from Kushaners and that will be called an external influence. Now, when this particular sculpture was found in 1917, it changed things. It heated up the whole debate that this is a sculpture which is pre-Kushan period, that belongs to Mauryan period and when we are talking about a sculpture belonging to Mauryan period and it is a life-size freestanding statue, it does not need any support. So, when such a sculpture is discovered, then we can talk about this idea that Indians knew of making life-size statues which were freestanding without any external influence. So, that is why she becomes very important for our cultural heritage as a nation. Now, if you look at the details that are here, she has been called Indian Mona Lisa. Again, a very Eurocentric approach to look at it because she was made way before Mona Lisa painting was painted. But let us come back here and look at the way she is sculpted. It actually tells us about the idea of beauty which prevailed in ancient India. If you look at literature, if you look at sculptures, you will find the very same features, the voluptuous body. You can say, see that she has heavy breasts as well as heavy bottoms and there is this belly fat very much visible. Probably, it was not a big deal back then. So, this is the way women were conceived to be beautiful. Now, if you look at the kind of dressing pattern that she is having, there is this dhoti-like dress and she is holding a frill, very much like we wear sarees today. So, you can see that there is a continuity in terms of patterns, in terms of ornaments that is present here. So, in the dressing pattern, you see the similarity present even today. If you look at the ornament, she is wearing anklets, a pair of anklets. She is wearing a girdle that is here. She is wearing necklace and this is very much popular today, matar mala. You can see that she is wearing very heavy earrings and these are the way in which women in ancient India were wearing ornaments. So, if you look at other sculptures also, if you look at terracotta images, if you look at other images of Yakshinis being depicted in various other areas, you will see that these are largely the ornament patterns, these are largely the dressing pattern that is very much visible in ancient India, very much prevalent even today. If you look at the way she is doing her hair, she has made a bun, a juda, as we call it. Again, common in today's times as well. Okay, this is the chauri or fly whisk that she is holding on the basis of which this has been argued that she is a chauri bearer, a fly whisk holder. So, these are a few things that you can notice about her. If you talk about her journey, you will find very interesting details even there. So, she is somebody who has travelled to many countries in Europe, including France. She has travelled to United States and you will see that she has had her share of journey, the tour of the world. When she was returning back from one of the countries in Europe, the nose was a bit broken and there was a mark on one of her cheeks and then Patna Museum said that we are not going to send her anywhere else. She will stay at Patna Museum and if somebody wants to see her, they will have to come here. So, this is largely about the Didarganj Yakshi. I hope you enjoyed these details about this very exquisite, very beautiful sculpture. We will take you to different places and we will show you different panels, different sculptures from ancient India in the upcoming videos. Stay connected to us at Shubhra Ranjan IAS. Thank you.