Didarganj Yakshi

Also called: Chauri bearer, Yakshi with fly whisk · Topic: Early Indian Art and Architecture: Stupas, Rock-cut Caves, Temples · NCERT: Class 7, Ch 5 "The Rise of Empires"

Meaning

The Didarganj Yakshi is a life-size, free-standing statue of a yakshi (a female nature spirit linked to fertility, wealth and good fortune). She holds a chauri (a fly whisk) in her right hand. The statue is carved from sandstone with a mirror-like polish. It was found in 1917 at Didarganj, on the bank of the Ganga near Patna (ancient Pataliputra), and is usually dated to the Mauryan period, though some scholars date it later.

• It matters because it is one of the finest early Indian sculptures of a woman. It also shows that Indian art was not only made for kings. Popular village cults like yaksha and yakshi worship produced great art too.

Explanation

Background — who were yakshas and yakshis?

• Yakshas (male) and yakshis (female) were spirits of trees, water and the earth. People worshipped them in villages long before Buddhism and Jainism grew strong.
• People believed they could bring children, rich harvests and wealth.
• Worship of them was part of popular religion, meaning the beliefs of ordinary people. These beliefs were mostly not written down in texts.
• Two kinds of art in the Mauryan age:
• Court art: royal works ordered by the king, such as Ashoka's polished stone pillars and their animal capitals.
• Popular art: large stone figures of yakshas and yakshis, made for local cults. The Didarganj Yakshi is the best-known example of this kind.

Style, material and features

• Material: buff sandstone, probably from the Chunar quarries near Varanasi. The Ashokan pillars used the same stone.
• Polish: the surface shines almost like glass. This "Mauryan polish" is the main reason she is linked to the Mauryan period.
• Form: she is carved in the round, so you can view her from every side, not only from the front. She stands on a pedestal.
• Body: a round face, full breasts, a slim waist and broad hips. This was the ideal of a fertile, auspicious woman.
• Dress and ornaments:
• a thin lower garment that falls to her ankles in carefully carved folds
• a heavy girdle (a belt of beads) at the waist
• necklaces, earrings, armlets, bangles and thick anklets

• hair tied in a neat bun at the back

• Chauri: the fly whisk shows she is an attendant. Chauri bearers served kings and gods. That is why she is also called the "Chauri bearer".

• The sculptor carved the soft flesh and the stiff jewellery as clearly different textures. This shows a high level of skill.

How such figures carried on — yakshis in later Buddhist art

• Yakshi figures did not disappear when Buddhism grew. They were pulled into Buddhist monuments.
• At Sanchi, the Shalabhanjika (a woman holding a branch of the shala tree, whose touch was believed to make the tree flower) hangs from the brackets of the gateways [2][3].
• Why this matters:
• Figures like these were not Buddhist ideas to begin with.
• People who became Buddhists brought their older beliefs with them.
• So the female fertility figure we see at Didarganj lived on as a lucky symbol on Buddhist stupas.

Results — the debate over her date

• Most textbooks place her in the Mauryan period (c. 3rd century BCE) because of her polish and her place of discovery near Pataliputra, the Mauryan capital.
• Some art historians argue for a later date, perhaps the 1st–2nd century CE, based on her body style and ornaments. They point out that the polish was used after the Mauryas too.
• The question is not settled. Exam answers should say "usually dated to the Mauryan period".

Time, place and evidence

• Period: usually dated to the Mauryan age (c. 3rd century BCE). A later date is possible.
• Find-spot: Didarganj, on the bank of the Ganga near Patna, Bihar. Local villagers found her in 1917.
• Patron: unknown. No inscription on the statue names a donor or a king. She most likely belonged to a popular local cult rather than the royal court.
• Where she is now: the Bihar Museum, Patna. She was earlier kept in the Patna Museum.
• How we know: the main evidence is the statue itself: its stone, polish, style and find-spot. No text describes her. So historians date and explain her by comparing her style with other works, such as the Ashokan pillars and later yakshis.

Don't confuse with

• Shalabhanjika: a woman holding a shala branch, carved on the brackets of Sanchi's gateways as part of a Buddhist monument [2][3]. The Didarganj Yakshi is a free-standing statue holding a chauri, and she is not attached to any stupa.
• Gajalakshmi: a goddess shown being bathed by elephants, which Buddhists could also read as Maya. She is a relief panel (a carving that rises from a flat background). The Didarganj Yakshi is a figure carved in the round, with no elephants.
• Parkham Yaksha: a male yaksha figure from near Mathura in Uttar Pradesh. The Didarganj figure is female and comes from near Patna in Bihar.
• Dancing Girl of Mohenjodaro: a small bronze figure from the Harappan civilisation. The Didarganj Yakshi is a life-size sandstone figure, usually dated to the Mauryan age.

Prelims Hooks

• Didarganj Yakshi: found in 1917 at Didarganj, near Patna (Bihar). She is now in the Bihar Museum, Patna.
• She holds a chauri (fly whisk) in her right hand. That is why she is also called the "Chauri bearer".
• Material: polished sandstone, probably Chunar. The famous Mauryan polish links her to the Ashokan pillars.
• Mauryan art falls into two groups: court art (Ashokan pillars) and popular art (yaksha and yakshi figures). Didarganj Yakshi = popular art.
• Trap: "The Didarganj Yakshi carries an inscription naming Ashoka as patron." False. Her patron is unknown, and her date rests on style alone.
• Trap: a female figure carved on Sanchi's gateway brackets = Shalabhanjika, not the Didarganj Yakshi [2].

Mains Points

• Popular religion shaped Indian art. The Didarganj Yakshi shows that village cults of nature spirits could pay for art as fine as royal art. The same fertility figures were later taken into Buddhist monuments, for example the Shalabhanjika at Sanchi [2][3]. Religions spread by absorbing older beliefs, not by wiping them out.
• Dating art without texts is hard. No inscription and no written source describe this statue. Historians must date her from her polish and style, and these clues point to different centuries. Like Fergusson's misreading of Sanchi, her case shows that an image studied without its text stays open to debate. A good answer admits this doubt.
• Continuity in the ideal of the female form. Her full figure, heavy ornaments and auspicious role carry on into the yakshis of Sanchi and Bharhut and the women of later temple sculpture. This shows a long, unbroken tradition in Indian sculpture.

Related concepts

• Vessantara Jataka
• Aniconic representation of the Buddha
• Dharmachakra
• Shalabhanjika
• Gajalakshmi
• Mithuna
• Yaksha and yakshi
• Parkham Yaksha
• Saptamatrikas
• James Fergusson

Read more

• Sculpture: stories, symbols, popular traditions