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Tree Spirit Deity (Yakshi)

Tree Spirit Deity (Yakshi). Culture: India (Uttar Pradesh, Mathura region). Dimensions: H. 13 3/4 in. (34.9 cm); W. 12 1/2 in. (31.8 cm); D. 5 in. (12.7 cm). Date: 1st-2nd century. This double-sided bracket (vrksadevata) for a gateway (torana) is decorated on either side with a tree-spirit deity known as a yakshi, who holds a flowering tree as a symbol of her fecundity. Her pose is that of salabhanjika ("breaking a branch of the sala tree"): grasping a branch, she thus engages with the fertility of the earth, bringing the tree into flower. Such figures provided an auspicious presence at the entrance to a sacred site.
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Title:
Tree Spirit Deity (Yakshi)
Caption:
Tree Spirit Deity (Yakshi). Culture: India (Uttar Pradesh, Mathura region). Dimensions: H. 13 3/4 in. (34.9 cm); W. 12 1/2 in. (31.8 cm); D. 5 in. (12.7 cm). Date: 1st-2nd century. This double-sided bracket (vrksadevata) for a gateway (torana) is decorated on either side with a tree-spirit deity known as a yakshi, who holds a flowering tree as a symbol of her fecundity. Her pose is that of salabhanjika ("breaking a branch of the sala tree"): grasping a branch, she thus engages with the fertility of the earth, bringing the tree into flower. Such figures provided an auspicious presence at the entrance to a sacred site.
Technique/material:
red sandstone
Museum:
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA
Credit:
Album / Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY
Releases:
Model: No - Property: No
Rights questions?
Image size:
3151 x 4200 px | 37.9 MB
Print size:
26.7 x 35.6 cm | 10.5 x 14.0 in (300 dpi)
Keywords: