The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v2.c16.s2.5

v2.c16.s2.5

On the other side of the tree, towards the right, is a large party of musicians and dancers, comprising fifteen artistes, all of whom are female. Women are reported to have joined the Buddhist saṅghārāmas as nuns during Gautama’s lifetime, or shortly afterwards; but the presence of a well-developed orchestra, such as is shown in this painting, in the second century B.C., indicates that the organization of female dancers and musicians attached to religious shrines existed in the Deccan earlier than the advent of the Buddhist faith. Two of the party in this painting are blowing trumpets and the rest are clapping or dancing. Clapping is still used in India and in other Oriental countries to mark time, or to produce the high pitch effect in music. Among the dancers the one nearest the sacred tree has raised and curved her arm in a peculiar style as if to give the body a whirl like the eddying motion of water, or the writhing of a serpent. The poses and steps of the other two dancers are typically Indian and may be noticed in the dancing of the present day (Plate XLIII a).