Indian Sculpture c8.211

c8.211

80. A celestial dancer, stone relief, Pahārpur, north Bengal. First half, seventh century. On a double lotus, at a moment of whirling and just before rising again, the dancer—with forcefully bent knees, the weight on the left foot, the right arm thrown across the body, the left shoulder and left arm raised, the head bent and turned towards the right in the direction of the whirling movement, with the palm of the right hand turned outwards and the left with the palm inward, loosely pending, from the bent forearm—holds a jewelled band, twined across the arms. The fluttering ends of the garment to either side of the figure intensify the movement, as does also the mass of hair coiled up and resting against the left shoulder. Simple and heavy jewellery, a long dhoti, with a raised pattern of ‘folds,’ full of the vigour of the movement, and a pleated and tassel-like arrangement tucked into and hanging in front of the dhoti, complete the simple and bold accessories. They surround a body of intensely restrained plasticity, itself formed, as it were, by the dancing movement. The same holds good for the large-featured face. The eyes are enamoured with and swim like fishes in the movement of the dance and composition which makes the lips so blissfully relaxed. The entire composition and the entire figure are borne by dance.