MS Vats, a well-known archaeologist, discovered this male figurine from the excavations at Harappa. It is dull coloured red and hand modeled. The seated male is in a yogic posture with legs outstretched and knees slightly raised
An exhibition of rare art pieces on yoga, Yoga Chakra, is being hosted at the Lalit Kala Akademi. For the exhibit, the National Museum has loaned 36 original art objects and five replicas of artifacts, including the dancing girl and terracotta figurines in yogic postures. The rare art objects from the museum at the week-long exhibition, which began on International Day of Yoga (June 21), include a 9th century Buddha in stone depicting a yogic pose from Sarnath, Uttar Pradesh, as well as an 11th century stone Yogini sculpture, in a meditative expression.
The artifacts, which symbolise a unique aspect of India’s cultural history linked to yoga, span millennia and a geographical spectrum ranging from Kashmir to Kerala. Part of the museum’s collection, these comprise sculptures, bronzes, paintings, manuscripts, terracotta and wooden figurines. There are also replicas of four unique art objects from the Harappa and Mohenjodaro period, including a ‘Seated Man in Namaskara Mudra’ in terracotta dating back to between 2700 BC and 2100 BC; a ‘Seated Man in Yoga Mudra’, also in terracotta from Mohenjodaro period between 2500 BC and 2200 BC; a ‘Pashupati Seal’ from the Mohenjodaro period in 2500 BC and a dancing girl of the same period. Further, there is a replica of the famous coin of King Samudragupta of the Gupta dynasty. Among the other objects are a saint in meditation in wood from Kerala belonging to the 20th century, a Yoga Sutra on paper from Kashmir of the 19th century, a 13th century Nath Yogi in Yogic posture in stone from Hyderabad and an 18th century seated Yogi painting from the 18th century Kangra, Himachal Pradesh.
Here are some of the amazing pieces:
Plaque shows a bearded saint in walking posture and holds the stick. A dog, facing the man, and dwarf, at the back, are also seen in the scene.Multi-armed Natesha in dancing mudra (gesture). Lord Siva wears crown, made of snakes and jatta (long hairs), necklace, armrest, bangle, waistband, anklets, garland etc. With his usual attributes, He is dancing on dwarf apasmara, symbol of ignorancePanel shows the seated saint under an arch frame. Bearded saint sits cross legged in meditation mudra (gesture). He wears dhoti (lower garment), yagnopavita (sacred thread), rudraksha-mala (string with rudraksha beads) necklace and bajuband (armlet), round kundala (ear rings), and hairs are arranged in top knot fashion. The slightly raised arch back frame depicts circle designDakshina Murthy Siva sits on rock, along with four breaded saints, on a rectangular pedestal which has lotus petal design. For armed Siva holds damaru, rosary, book and trishul/flame. His one leg rest on another, while other leg is laced on the back of dwarf apasmara, symbol of ignorance. This scene appears to be of forest, where flower, leaves are around Siva and saints. These saints sit in various posturesA pair of khadau (sandal) from the 20th century has a round big knob for the toe and ‘S’ shaped foot portion. Entire surface of sandal is worked in dotted form, lined border and stylised bird is on inner side. The back has check design all over.The tine bronze cast statue of a young girl now unanimously called “Indus Dancing Girl” represents a dynamically poised female figure performing a dance. The forward thrust of the left leg and backwards titled right, the gesture of the hands, demeanour of the face and head, all speak of absorption in dance, perhaps one of those early styles that combined drama with dance, and dialogue with body gestures. The statue, recovered in excavation from ‘HR area’ of Mohenjo Daro, is suggestive of two major breaks – one that the Indus artists knew alloying of metals and techniques of lost wax casting besides other technical aspects of metallurgyA perusal of the terracotta figurines unearthed from various Indus sites indicate that Harappan craftsmen and the artists portrayed figurines practising exercises and various other postures. In this figurine, a man is shown with legs raised and knees closely held to the body by hands. There is a small hole at the bottom of this figurine
