THE DANCING STONES : The Dancing Girl of Mohenjo-daro

THE DANCING STONES

The Dancing Girl of Mohenjo-daro

Dr Hima Bindu Kanoj

In Indian history, every art form is interconnected. The stories in Puranas started to be shared in the form of oral retelling, and gradually other art forms like literature, performance, dance and sculptures were introduced Dance researcher Dr Hima Bindu Kanoj explores the interconnection in Dance and sculptures as a medium of expression.

Thank you dear friends for your appreciation to this series Through this series, we are trying to explain the co relation of dance and sculptures; that existed for centuries Let me start with a small question

Where do we see the very first reference of dancing in a sculpture? The answer is all the way back in 3rd century BCE

Dancing Girl is a prehistoric bronze sculpture made in lost wax casting about c 2300 1750 BCE in the Indus Valley Civilisation city of Mohenjo daro (in modern day Pakistan), which was one of the earliest cities The statue is 10 5 centimetres (4 1 in) tall, and depicts a nude young woman or girl with stylized ornaments, standing in a confident, naturalistic pose. Dancing Girl is well regarded as earliest reference to dance in sculptures

This is one of two bronze figures found at Mohenjo daro that show more flexible features when compared to other more formal poses. The girl is nude, wears a number of bangles and a necklace and is shown in a natural standing position with one hand on her hip.[3] She wears 24 to 25 bangles on her left arm and 4 bangles on her right arm, and some object was held in her left hand, which is resting on her thigh; both arms are unusually long.[4] Her necklace has three big pendants. She has her long hair styled in a big bun that is resting on her shoulder

The sculpture is currently available for display at National Museum, Delhi

Image courtesy : Rahul Katikala

In photo : Dr Hima Bindu Kanoj

The Writer is an internationally acclaimed Kuchipudi dancer, who has performed at more than 100 dance festivals in and outside India. She has done extensive research in the topic of the dance related sculptures and the connection between dance and sculptures. She has also done workshops on various topics of Indian Dance, Art and Culture at multiple universities in USA Hima is also a part of admin team of Indian.Temples.

12 THE HERITAGE DIARY/ DEC 2022