Frieze
11th century (made)
Artist/Maker | |
Place of origin |
This frieze with both male and female dancers is from a temple at Palitana near the important Jain pilgrimage site of Satrunjaya. Most temples in and around Satrunjaya were destroyed in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. In the mid-nineteenth century some fragments were retrieved from the area and are now housed in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. There is no certainty that this frieze comes from a Jain temple, but Jainism is the predominant religion in the region.
Male and female figures alternate in deep recesses between circular columns. Curiously while the males are dancing vigorously in a variety of postures and gestures, the females stand gracefully. From the left, the first stands in the svastika posture and holds a pot with both hands, the second stands with her right hip thrust out and holding a pot with her right hand only, the third strikes the familiar posture of removing a thorn from her foot as she grasps perhaps a branch with her left arm and the fourth dangles a branch of mangoes with her right hand. These activities clearly make them alasakanya or indolent girls seen in such provocative abundance in the better known temples of Khajuraho.
Male and female figures alternate in deep recesses between circular columns. Curiously while the males are dancing vigorously in a variety of postures and gestures, the females stand gracefully. From the left, the first stands in the svastika posture and holds a pot with both hands, the second stands with her right hip thrust out and holding a pot with her right hand only, the third strikes the familiar posture of removing a thorn from her foot as she grasps perhaps a branch with her left arm and the fourth dangles a branch of mangoes with her right hand. These activities clearly make them alasakanya or indolent girls seen in such provocative abundance in the better known temples of Khajuraho.
Object details
Category | |
Object type | |
Materials and techniques | Buff-coloured sandstone |
Brief description | Frieze depicting celestial performers, Palitana, 11th century. |
Physical description | This frieze with both male and female dancers is from a temple at Palitana near the important Jain pilgrimage site of Satrunjaya. Most temples in and around Satrunjaya were destroyed in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. In the mid-nineteenth century some fragments were retrieved from the area and are now housed in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. There is no certainty that this frieze comes from a Jain temple, but Jainism is the predominant religion in the region. Male and female figures alternate in deep recesses between circular columns. Curiously while the males are dancing vigorously in a variety of postures and gestures, the females stand gracefully. From the left, the first stands in the svastika posture and holds a pot with both hands, the second stands with her right hip thrust out and holding a pot with her right hand only, the third strikes the familiar posture of removing a thorn from her foot as she grasps perhaps a branch with her left arm and the fourth dangles a branch of mangoes with her right hand. These activities clearly make them alasakanya or indolent girls seen in such provocative abundance in the better known temples of Khajuraho. |
Dimensions |
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Credit line | Given by the Architectural Association, Royal Architectural Museum, 37 Great Smith Street, Westminster, S.W |
Object history | Given by the Architectural Association, to which this and 51 related architectural pieces from ruined temples devastated by Muslim raiders in the 14th and 15th centuries on the twin summits of Mount Shatrunjaya, Palitana in Gujarat, IM 53-112-1916, had been presented by Sir Henry Bartle Edward Frere, Ist baronet, G.C.B, C.C.S.I. (1815-1884), former Governor of Bombay, in 1877. As John Guy writes in The Peaceful Liberators the high degree of stylistic uniformity suggests that these pieces were collected from a single temple, or at least from sites that were contemporary. They are related to known Solanki dynasty temples of the 11th and 12th centuries: inscriptions record that endowments were made to the Shatrunjaya temples during the reign of Siddharaja Jayasimha (1095-1142), a Solanki ruler renowned for his patronage. Given by the Architectural Association, Royal Architectural Museum, 37 Great Smith Street, Westminster, S.W. This acquisition information reflects that found in the Museum records (Asia Department registers and/or Central Inventory) as part of a 2023 provenance research project. R.P. 1915-3836M and R.P. 1916-2270M |
Subjects depicted | |
Bibliographic reference | Prataditya Pal, in Dancing to the Flute, Music and Dance in Indian Art, 1997, p.110,111 |
Collection | |
Accession number | IM.93-1916 |
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Record created | June 21, 2001 |
Record URL |
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