![Shilabalika 3](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/58/Shilabalika_3.JPG)
A salabhanjika or shalabhanjika is a term found in
Indian art
Indian art consists of a variety of art forms, including painting, sculpture, pottery, and textile arts such as woven silk. Geographically, it spans the entire Indian subcontinent, including what is now India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, N ...
and literature with a variety of meanings. In
Buddhist art
Buddhist art is visual art produced in the context of Buddhism. It includes depictions of Gautama Buddha and other Buddhas and bodhisattvas, notable Buddhist figures both historical and mythical, narrative scenes from their lives, mandalas, and ...
, it means an image of a woman or
yakshi
''Yakshinis'' or ''yakshis'' (यक्षिणी sa, yakṣiṇī or ''yakṣī''; pi, yakkhiṇī or ''yakkhī'') are a class of female nature spirits in Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain religious mythologies that are different from devas and ...
next to, often holding, a tree, or a reference to
Maya
Maya may refer to:
Civilizations
* Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America
** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples
** Maya language, the languages of the Maya peoples
* Maya (Ethiopia), a populat ...
near the ''sala'' tree giving birth to Siddhartha (Buddha). In Hindu and
Jain art
Jain art refers to religious works of art associated with Jainism. Even though Jainism has spread only in some parts of India, it has made a significant contribution to Indian art and architecture.
In general Jain art broadly follows the cont ...
, the meaning is less specific, and it is any statue or statuette, usually female, that breaks the monotony of a plain wall or space and thus enlivens it.
In Buddhist literature, ''salabhanjika'' also refers to an ancient Indian festival, one celebrated when ''sala'' tree blossoms in the context of Buddha's life.
In literature, apart from the statue meaning, Salabhanjika can mean a doll, or fairy, or a seductress (harlot) depending on the context.
In these contexts, they are also known as ''madanakai'', ''madanika'' or ''shilabalika''. In the context of Indian poetry and music, the term ''salabhanjika'' is synonymous with the ''pathyā'' meter – one of the minor ''chanda'' (poetic meter) in the ''catuṣpadi'' group, and is used for transition. The shalabhanjika is a common decorative element and
Indian sculpture
Sculpture in the Indian subcontinent, partly because of the climate of the Indian subcontinent makes the long-term survival of organic materials difficult, essentially consists of sculpture of stone, metal or terracotta. It is clear there was a gr ...
found inside and outside religious and secular spaces of Buddhist, Hindu and Jain architecture.
In Buddhist sites, reliefs on
stupa
A stupa ( sa, स्तूप, lit=heap, ) is a mound-like or hemispherical structure containing relics (such as ''śarīra'' – typically the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns) that is used as a place of meditation.
In Buddhism, circumamb ...
s displayed a stylized female by a tree, typically grasping or breaking a branch as Buddha's mother Maya did. In these contexts, salabhanjika may be related to ancient
tree deities
A tree deity or tree spirit is a nature deity related to a tree. Such deities are present in many cultures. They are usually represented as a young woman, often connected to ancient fertility and tree worship lore.Heinrich Zimmer, ''Myths and Sym ...
in Indian popular religion, related to
fertility
Fertility is the capability to produce offspring through reproduction following the onset of sexual maturity. The fertility rate is the average number of children born by a female during her lifetime and is quantified demographically. Fertili ...
.
Etymology
The word ''śālabhañjikā'' is a compound
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
word consisting of ''
śālā'' and ''bhañjikā''. The word bhañjikā means 'breaking, interrupting". The word ''śālā'' means any "house, space, enclosure, wall, court" – such as in dharmaśālā (rest house) or gośālā (resting space for cows).
[Monier Monier Williams (1994 updated), Sanskrit English Dictionary]
शाल śāla śālá
page 260 The same word also refers to the
sala tree, a valuable timber tree used to construct homes and other buildings.
[ According to Vogel, a Sanskrit scholar, the different meanings of the word ''salabhanjika'' in the Indian traditions, may be linked to the respective significance of ''sala'' tree, the Buddhist tradition associating it with the birth of Buddha, while Hindu and Jain traditions using the same tree as timber for making statues and other objects of art.][
Vogel states that the word ''salabhanjika'' is found neither in the Vedic literature nor in Pali literature and nor in the major Indian epics, but appears in Indian classical literature of early 1st-millennium CE such as Asvagosha's ''Buddhacarita'' (c. 100 CE). An older reference to the synonymous term ''salastri'' – woman shaped out of ''sala'' tree – is found in the Hindu text '']Natyashastra
The ''Nāṭya Śāstra'' (, ''Nāṭyaśāstra'') is a Sanskrit treatise on the performing arts. The text is attributed to sage Bharata Muni, and its first complete compilation is dated to between 200 BCE and 200 CE, but estimates var ...
'' in verses 2.83–84.[ This may reflect that the literature followed the tradition and popularity of carving wooden statues.][ The term is also synonymous with terms ''madanika'', ''putrilika'', ''stambhaputri'', ''stambhaputrika'', and ''putrika''.][ Prasanna Acharya – a Sanskrit scholar and the author of ''An Encyclopedia of Hindu Architecture'', states that ''śālā'' and ''bhañjikā'' appear in verse 2.79 of the ''Natyashastra'' in the sense of "a wooden image".][
The word ''salabhanjika'' appears with ''uddalakapushpa-bhanjika'' and ''asokapushpaprachayika'' as ancient games in early Hindu Sanskrit texts, says Sivaramamurti – an art historian and Sanskrit epigraphist.][ These games were played by girls who collected flowers from the ''Sala'', ''Asoka'' and other trees, then arranged them in colorful patterns or decorated their hair with them. This cultural event inspired sculpture, states Sivaramamurti.][ He concurs with Vogel and states that over the centuries, the word ''salabhanjika'' came to mean "any statue and nothing more", irrespective of the presence or absence of tree, whether female or male, in architecture or literature.][C. Sivaramamurti (1955), Sanskrit Literature and Art – Mirrors of Indian Culture, Memoirs of The Archaeological Survey of India No. 73, ASI, , pp. 1-2]
Vogel, Acharya, and other scholars concur that in the arts and literature of the Hindus and Jains, the term ''salabhanjika'' has simply meant any statue on any pillar, wall, or in any hall.
Locations
In the Buddhist traditions, among the renowned shalabhanjika sculptures with ''sal'' tree are found in Bharhut and at the gateways (Torana) of Sanchi Stupa
Sanchi is a Buddhist complex, famous for its Great Stupa, on a hilltop at Sanchi Town in Raisen District of the State of Madhya Pradesh, India. It is located, about 23 kilometres from Raisen town, district headquarter and north-east of Bho ...
near Bhopal, a World Heritage site. Near Patna, another early example of a shalabhanjika was excavated with the Buddhist Stupa and Durakhi Devi Temple remains at the Kumhrar
Kumhrar or Kumrahar is the area of Patna where remains of the ancient city of Pataliputra were excavated by the Archaeological Survey of India starting from 1913. It is located 5 km east of Patna Railway Station.
Archaeological remains of ...
archaeological site. It is attributed to the Shunga
is a type of Japanese erotic art typically executed as a kind of ukiyo-e, often in woodblock print format. While rare, there are also extant erotic painted handscrolls which predate ukiyo-e. Translated literally, the Japanese word ''shunga' ...
dynasty dating to the 2nd or 1st century BC. This may reflect the remains of the ancient city of Pataliputra
Pataliputra (IAST: ), adjacent to modern-day Patna, was a city in ancient India, originally built by Magadha ruler Ajatashatru in 490 BCE as a small fort () near the Ganges river.. Udayin laid the foundation of the city of Pataliputra at the ...
.
In the Hindu traditions, among the renowned salabhanjika sculptures without ''sal'' tree are those at the 12th-century Hoysala
The Hoysala Empire was a Kannada people, Kannadiga power originating from the Indian subcontinent that ruled most of what is now Karnataka, India, Karnataka between the 10th and the 14th centuries. The capital of the Hoysalas was initially loca ...
temples of Belur
Belur may refer to:
Places
* Belur, Karnataka, a town in Karnataka, India
** Belur temple (Chennakeshava temple), Belur
* Belur, Tamil Nadu, a town in Salem district, Tamil Nadu, India
* Belur, West Bengal, a neighbourhood of Howrah, India
** Be ...
, Halebidu
Halebidu (IAST: Haḷēbīḍ, literally "old capital, city, encampment" or "ruined city") is a town located in Hassan District, Karnataka, India. Historically known as Dorasamudra (also Dwarasamudra), Halebidu became the regal capital of the ...
and Somanathapura
Somanathapura, also spelled Somanathpur, Somnathpur, or Somanathpura, is a town and Grama Panchayat in Tirumakudalu Narasipura, Mysore district in the state of Karnataka in India.Karnataka
Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...
. Some of the ''salabhanjika'' in Hindu and Jain temples may include decorations of flower or vine motifs behind or to the side of the statue or relief.
Salabhanjikas have been found in many historic temples of India, Nepal, Cambodia, Vietnam and Indonesia. These include the Chalukya
The Chalukya dynasty () was a Classical Indian dynasty that ruled large parts of southern and central India between the 6th and the 12th centuries. During this period, they ruled as three related yet individual dynasties. The earliest dynas ...
period temple in Jalasangvi
Jalasangvi (or Jalasangavi or Jalsangi) is a village in Homnabad Taluk, Bidar district, Karnataka, India. It is located close to Dubalgundi, on the Gulbarga - Bidar state highway, at the northern end of Karnataka State. Jalasangvi is famous for ...
in northeast Karnataka, many in ''tribhanga
Tribhaṅga or Tribunga is a standing body position or stance used in traditional Indian art and Indian classical dance forms like the Odissi, where the body bends in one direction at the knees, the other direction at the hips and then the oth ...
'' (S-shaped) pose. These early sculptures were the source of inspiration for the later Hoysala bracket-figures.
Related iconography
The sal tree ''(Shorea robusta)'' is often confused with the ashoka tree Ashoka tree is a common name for two plants which are frequently confused with each other:
*'' Saraca asoca'', native to South Asia and western Myanmar
*'' Saraca indica'', native to eastern Myanmar and Southeast Asia
*''Monoon longifolium
'' ...
''(Saraca indica)'' in the ancient literature of the Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...
. The position of the Salabhanjika is also related to the position of Maya
Maya may refer to:
Civilizations
* Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America
** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples
** Maya language, the languages of the Maya peoples
* Maya (Ethiopia), a populat ...
when she gave birth to Gautama Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism.
According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in Lu ...
under an asoka tree in a garden in Lumbini
Lumbinī ( ne, लुम्बिनी, IPA=ˈlumbini , "the lovely") is a Buddhist pilgrimage site in the Rupandehi District of Lumbini Province in Nepal. It is the place where, according to Buddhist tradition, Queen Mahamayadevi gave birth ...
, while grasping its branch.[Buddhistische Bilderwelt: Hans Wolfgang Schumann, ''Ein ikonographisches Handbuch des Mahayana- und Tantrayana-Buddhismus.'' Eugen Diederichs Verlag. Cologne. , ]
See also
*Caryatid
A caryatid ( or or ; grc, Καρυᾶτις, pl. ) is a sculpted female figure serving as an architectural support taking the place of a column or a pillar supporting an entablature on her head. The Greek term ''karyatides'' literally means "ma ...
, a similar element in Western architecture
*List of tree deities
A tree deity or tree spirit is a nature deity related to a tree. Such deities are present in many cultures. They are usually represented as a young woman, often connected to ancient fertility and tree worship lore.Heinrich Zimmer, ''Myths and Sy ...
*Yakshini
''Yakshinis'' or ''yakshis'' (यक्षिणी sa, yakṣiṇī or ''yakṣī''; pi, yakkhiṇī or ''yakkhī'') are a class of female nature spirits in Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain religious mythologies that are different from devas and ...
References
{{reflist
Indian architectural history
Sanskrit words and phrases
Female legendary creatures