Studies in Indian Art c12.s2.t2: II. Palwal Yaksha

c12.s2.t2.1

The statue consists of the head and bust of a colossal Yaksha image of red sandstone. It was found at Palwal in Gurgaon District in 1914 and is now deposited in the Provincial Museum, Lucknow (0.107). The figure is wearing on the head a conical turban with tiered folds, big round discs in cloven ear-lobes, a double flat crescent-shaped torque, a flat triangular necklace, armlets with triple vertical projections and four heavy wristlets. The right hand is raised towards the shoulder and holds a conch-like tapering object, now mutilated. There are traces of a scarf looped on right elbow. On the back are shown pendant tassels of the necklace. The style of the turban, the torque and the necklace and the armlets with feathered projections seen in the side view, all point to the image being an early Yaksha type that may be assigned to the early Śuṅga period, about second century B.C. The object in the right hand is unfortunately not very distinct and therefore the identification with Kubera is far from certain. It adds one more example to the colossal Yaksha statues found in the Mathura region.