Dilukai (or dilukái or dilugai) are wooden figures of young women carved over the doorways of chiefs' houses (''bai'') in the
Palauan archipelago. They are typically shown with legs splayed, revealing a large, black, triangular pubic area with the hands resting on the thighs. These female figures protect the villagers' health and crops and ward off evil spirits. They were traditionally carved by ritual specialists according to strict rules, which, if broken, would result in the deaths of the carver and the chief. Female figures presenting their vulva can be found in many cultures: they symbolize fertility, (spiritual) rebirth, and they protect from evil (see above).
Mythology
Another explanation of Dilukai is that a woman named Dilukái was the sister of a troublesome man named Atmatuyuk. He eventually departed and these images of his sister were erected to prevent his return, as it was forbidden for a brother to see his sister’s genitalia.
Other analysts interpret Dilukais as men or women figures designed to empower their sexuality. They were usually standing at the center of public "meeting" houses.
Christian missionaries were not fond of Dilukai, and changed the context, claiming that their purpose was to shame an immoral woman.
See also
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Anasyrma
Anasyrma () composed of ἀνά ''ana'' "up, against, back", and σύρμα ''syrma'' "a dragging motion"; plural: anasyrmata (), also called anasyrmos (), is the gesture of lifting the skirt or kilt. It is used in connection with certain religio ...
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Baubo
Baubo (Ancient Greek: Βαυβώ) is a minor figure in Greek mythology who does not appear in surviving sources before the fourth century CE. A fragment from Asclepiades of Tragilus states that she is the wife of Dysaules, who was said to be Auto ...
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Lajja Gauri
Lajjā Gaurī is a lotus-headed Hindu goddess associated with abundance, fertility and sexuality, sometimes euphemistically described as ''Lajja'' ("modesty"). She is sometimes shown in a birthing posture, but without outward signs of pregnancy. ...
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Nin-imma
Ninimma was a Mesopotamian goddess best known as a courtier of Enlil. She is well attested as a deity associated with scribal arts, and is variously described as a divine scholar, scribe or librarian by modern Assyriologists. She could also serve ...
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Sheela na gig
A sheela na gig is a figurative carving of a naked woman displaying an exaggerated Human vulva, vulva. These carvings, from the Middle Ages, are Grotesque (architecture), architectural grotesques found throughout most of Europe on Architecture ...
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Yoni
''Yoni'' (Sanskrit: योनि, ), sometimes called ''pindika'', is an abstract or aniconic representation of the Hindu goddess Shakti. It is usually shown with ''linga'' – its masculine counterpart. Together, they symbolize the merging ...
Footnotes
References
* D’Alleva, Anne, ''Arts of the Pacific Islands'', New York, Harry N. Abrams, 1998.
* Jones, Lindsay (ed), ''Encyclopedia of Religion'', Detroit, Macmillan, 2005, article on ''Yoni''.
External links
Dilukai from the Caroline Islands, Belau (Palau) at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Culture of Palau
Fertility goddesses
{{Palau-stub