Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c11.s2.1.1

c11.s2.1.1

The Yaksha problem in Indian religion, literature and art is of dimensions worthy of special attention. Perhaps no other cult is as ancient, as widespread and as deeply ingrained in the lives of the people as the Yaksha cult. Even today each Indian village has a Yaksha shrine under the name of Bīr (गाँव-गाँव को ठाकुर, गाँव-गाँव को बीर), and on enquiry it was found that Yaksha worship under different names is a living cult from Kashmir to the Tamil Land (Viran, Māran, i. e. tutelary deity) and from Assam to Saurāshtra. A Yaksha shrine is in the nature of a low platform on which a conical aniconic image is placed usualy with a niche for lamp. There are four points of distinction between a Śiva Linga and a Yaksha image. Firstly, that there should be a Yaksha shrine in each village; secondly, a Yaksha image is single on its platform called chatvara (Hindi, Chaurā) or sthāna (Hindi, thān) but a Śiva shrine may have other images also. Thirdly, there can be no niche or depression for putting a lamp in a Śiva Linga; and fourthly, the Yaksha image is peaked at the top, while the Śiva Linga is rounded. There is evidence in the Purāṇas to indicate that originally Yaksha cult widely prevailed, but it was supplanted by the Śiva cult.