The Sanchi Yakshi Figure is a sandstone statue of the Shalabhanjika

Yakshi ''Yakshinis'' or ''yakshis'' (यक्षिणी sa, yakṣiṇī or ''yakṣī''; pi, yakkhiṇī or ''yakkhī'') are a class of female nature spirits in Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain religious mythologies that are different from devas and ...

from the ancient Buddhist site of

Sanchi Sanchi is a Buddhist complex, famous for its Great Stupa, on a hilltop at Sanchi Town in Raisen District of the State of Madhya Pradesh, India. It is located, about 23 kilometres from Raisen town, district headquarter and north-east of Bh ...

in the state of

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

, India. One of the earliest Buddhist sculptures from the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...

, it has been part of the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

's collection since 1842.

History

The bejewelled figure of the

yakshi ''Yakshinis'' or ''yakshis'' (यक्षिणी sa, yakṣiṇī or ''yakṣī''; pi, yakkhiṇī or ''yakkhī'') are a class of female nature spirits in Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain religious mythologies that are different from devas and ...

was originally installed on one of the gateways that surrounded the Great Stupa at Sanchi, which is said to have contained the relics of the

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in L ...

. In the 1st century AD four

torana ''Torana'' ( sa, तोरण; '' awr-uh-nuh') is a free-standing ornamental or arched gateway for ceremonial purposes in Hindu, Buddhist and Jain architecture of the Indian subcontinent. Toranas can also be widely seen in Southeast Asia and ...

s or large gateways were erected around the stupa, which served as the main entrances to a circular processional walkway that surrounded the holy building. Made of

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

, the gateways were elaborately decorated with some of the earliest surviving forms of buddhist iconography. The beam of the western gateway was originally supported by this bracket figure. During the preliminary excavations at the site in the early nineteenth century, it came into the possession of a Mrs Tucker, who donated it to the British Museum in 1842. One of the few figures from the site in the

West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

,The Los Angeles County Museum of Art has two similar figures
/ref> it remains one of the most important early

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

sculptures in the museum's collection. Northern Gate, Sanchi Stupa built in 3rd century BC

Description

Carved in white sandstone, the almost nude figure of the yakshi figure is shown clasping onto the branches of a tree with her arms, with her right leg wrapped around its trunk. She is weighed down with ornate

jewellery Jewellery ( UK) or jewelry (U.S.) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the clothes. From a wester ...

around her neck, waist and ankles. The sculpture also acted as an architectural bracket, supporting a long sandstone beam that once ran above the yakshi's head. The Shalabhanjika Yakshi thus served two purposes: as a fertility symbol associated with the vitality of the fruit-bearing tree and as a structural element supporting the whole configuration of the gateway.

References

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History

Description

References

Further reading