Radhika and Dudhika Nayak (born 1888; Dudhika died on February 16, 1902; Radhika died in November 1903) were Indian

conjoined twin Conjoined twins – sometimes popularly referred to as Siamese twins – are twins joined ''in utero''. A very rare phenomenon, the occurrence is estimated to range from 1 in 49,000 births to 1 in 189,000 births, with a somewhat higher incidence ...

sisters. They toured Europe and North America as "the Orissa Twins", sideshow performers with the

Barnum and Bailey Circus The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus (also known as the Ringling Bros. Circus, Ringling Bros., the Barnum & Bailey Circus, Barnum & Bailey, or simply Ringling) is an American traveling circus company billed as The Greatest Show on Ear ...

. (Their names were spelled various ways in reports, over time and across languages.)

Early life

Radhika and Dudhika were born in the

Dhenkanal district Dhenkanal district is one of the 30 districts of the state of Odisha in Eastern India. Geography Dhenkanal district is one of the centrally located districts in Odisha. It lies between Longitude: 85° 58' to 86° 2' East and Latitude: 20° 29' ...

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...

, probably in Huapada, the children of Khestra Nayak.Gyan Ranjan Mohapatra
"Famous 'Orissa Twins' Little Known in State"
''The Pioneer'' (January 4, 2016).Ashok Pradhan, "Attempt was made to separate Odia conjoined twins in 1902: Researcher" ''Times of India'' (February 4, 2017). They were taken into the care of a local religious community as infants.

Sideshow career

The girls were removed from the '' sadhus''' care by an English promoter called Captain Coleman, and they sailed for Europe with him in 1892. Their first public exhibition outside of India was at the

Royal Aquarium The Royal Aquarium and Winter Garden was a place of amusement in Westminster, London. It opened in 1876, and the building was demolished in 1903. The attraction was located northwest of Westminster Abbey on Tothill Street. The building was design ...

in London. In 1893, they traveled to the United States, where they were displayed at the

World's Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World's Fair) was a world's fair held in Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordi ...

in Chicago that year. Also in 1893, the ''

British Medical Journal ''The BMJ'' is a weekly peer-reviewed medical trade journal, published by the trade union the British Medical Association (BMA). ''The BMJ'' has editorial freedom from the BMA. It is one of the world's oldest general medical journals. Origi ...

'' published a report about their physical state, finding them "free from all element of repulsiveness" and "apparently perfect in every respect, except that from the ensiform cartilage to the umbilicus they are united together." Another medical journal reported that "the children seldom quarrel". After their Chicago appearance, the Orissa Twins toured extensively with the Barnum and Bailey Circus sideshow. They were said to speak English, French, and German, and to have a Scottish governess.

Separation and deaths

The twins had been traveling for almost a decade when Dudhika was found to have

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

in 1902. A prominent French doctor,

Eugène-Louis Doyen Eugène-Louis Doyen (16 December 1859 – 21 November 1916) was a French surgeon born in Reims. He was the son of Octave Doyen (1831–1895), who served as mayor of Reims. Eugène Doyen studied medicine in Reims and Paris, and later opened a pr ...

, offered to perform a surgical separation in hopes of saving Radhika's health. The surgery was filmed (as other procedures by Doyen had been). There was concern afterward that the surgeon had been distracted or hasty, because of the cameras and his ambition for good publicity. "The practice of medical heroics on Radica and Doodica's bodies," comments a recent historian, "can be understood as the spectacularization of medical superiority." Dudhika Nayak died soon after the surgery, aged about 14 years, from

peritonitis Peritonitis is inflammation of the localized or generalized peritoneum, the lining of the inner wall of the abdomen and cover of the abdominal organs. Symptoms may include severe pain, swelling of the abdomen, fever, or weight loss. One part or ...

. Radhika Nayak recovered well, and was not told of her sister's death; Radhika was baptized as ''Marie Marguerite'', and learned needlework, during her stay in a Paris sanatorium. She died in 1903, aged about 15 years, from tuberculosis. After their separation, the film of the procedure made its way into theatres, first for medical professionals, but eventually to a wider audience. There was "a storm of disgust" when the film was exhibited in Vienna in 1903. Doyen himself tried to stop the exhibition of the films in sideshows in 1904.

Legacy

In 2017, conjoined twin boys Jaga and Kalia Kanhar, also from Odisha, were successfully separated by surgery in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

. Radhika and Dudhika Nayak were recalled in some articles about the event.Rashmi Rekha Das
"Twin Tales"
''Orissa Post'' (November 11, 2017).

References

External links

"The Orissa Twins. Radica, Doodica & Prins Colibri"
a Danish cabinet card in the collection of the

J. Paul Getty Museum The J. Paul Getty Museum, commonly referred to as the Getty, is an art museum in Los Angeles, California housed on two campuses: the Getty Center and Getty Villa. The Getty Center is located in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles and fea ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Nayak, Radhika and Doodika 1888 births 1902 deaths 1903 deaths Conjoined twins Sideshow performers