Lekhana Sundari sculpture belonging to the 10th
century AD is a classic proof of women education in ancient India. The
tradition of women education in Sanatana Dharma goes back to the Vedic age. Lekhana
Sundari sculpture is part of the Ishwara temple at Jalasangvi or Jalasangi, in Bidar
District in Karnataka. It is an important place of Kalyan Chalukya art and
architecture.
The Jalasangvi Ishwara temple (1110 AD) was built during the reign of Vikramaditya VI (1076 - 1226 AD).
Lekhana Sundari sculpture
is depicted as writing on a slate-like. It has been composed in a vertical
space of the wall.
Lekhana Sundari holds a slate-like rectangular object, which
represents the Burjwa Patra, a leaf used for writing. It is beautifully
rendered and there is a stick-like hand grip. She holds it in her left hand
tilts her face up and writes on it with a pen. The artist has carved the
sculpture with such grace and details. The standing posture, bodily flexion and
stance of the sculpture are the work of a master craftsman. The Apsara’s
standing posture, especially the twist above her belly, is remarkable.
She has written a few lines in old Kannada script — it is a
eulogy to King Vikramaditya VI, who also had the epithet Vishnuvardhana. The
script reads “Saptadveepodaree Bhutam Bhutalam Swakarishayati Chalukya
Vikramaditya Saptamo Vishnuvardhanah” (Vikramaditya of the Chalukya dynasty
captures and rules the land between the seven oceans).
Notes about the sculpture taken from the article titled The damsels of Karnataka’s Jalasangvi by R H Kulkarni published in The New Indian Express
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