Didarganj Yakshi

✎ The Didarganj Yakshi (or Didarganj Chauri Bearer) is sometimes considered as one of the finest examples of Mauryan art.

✎ It is rather dated to the second century CE, based on the analysis of shape and ornamentation.

✎ The sculpture is currently located in the Bihar Museum in Bihar, India.

✎ It is 64” tall, carved out of a single piece of stone.

✎ This life-size standing image is tall, well proportioned; free-standing sculpture is made of sandstone with well-polished surface, a characteristic usually associated with Mauryan polish.

✎ The flywhisk (Chauri) is held in the right hand whereas the left hand is broken. The lower garment creates a transparent effect.

✎ The Didarganj Yakshi is estimated to date from ca. 3rd century BCE to the 2nd century CE.

✎ It was excavated on the banks of the Ganges River, at the hamlet of Didarganj Kadam Basaul, northeast of the Qadam-i-Rasul mosque in Patna city, in October 1917 by noted archaeologist and historian, Professor J.N. Samaddar.

✎ A Patna museum publication describes how in the letter of Honourable E.H.S. Walsh, then Commission of Patna, credit is given to a man name Ghulam Rasul, who saw the base sticking out from the muddy banks of the riverside near Didarganj. Rasul then proceeded to dig up the grounds to find the statue.

✎ The other story related to Didarganj Yakshi is that on the banks of the Ganges in Didarganj in old Patna city, for years it was said that dhobis washed clothes on a slab that was sticking out of the earth. One day, a snake appeared in the precincts and as the villagers followed in chase, it slithered away into a hole in the ground near the slab. Villagers started to dig up the earth; they found the slab was actually the bottom pedestal of a marvelous statue, which we now called the Didarganj Yakshi.

✎ The Yakshi(meaning female earth spirit) embodies close to perfect standards of feminine beauty of ancient India.

✎ The most striking about the statue is that after one has absorbed the obviously attractive features, is the graceful manner in which the figure endears itself to us.

✎ The Yakshistoops slightly forward instead of standing upright, seeking a posture of humility.

✎ The design of her right leg is slightly bent as if due to the weight of the fly-whisk she holds and the firmness of her grip on the chauri shows the delicacy of rendition in detailing.

✎ It is a figure in the round, which means it can be viewed from all angles.