Why yaksha and yakshini sculpture were predominantly produced during mauryan period?
Answers
Answer:
The yakshas (यक्ष Sanskrit: yakṣa; Pali: yakkha) are a broad class of nature-spirits, usually benevolent, but sometimes mischievous or capricious, connected with water, fertility, trees, the forest, treasure and wilderness.[1][2] They appear in Hindu, Jain and Buddhist texts, as well as ancient and medieval era temples of South Asia and Southeast Asia as guardian deities.[2][3] The feminine form of the word is yakṣī[4] or yakshini (यक्षिणी Sanskrit: yakṣiṇī; Pali: yakkhinī).[5]
In Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist texts, the yakṣa has a dual personality. On the one hand, a yakṣa may be an inoffensive nature-fairy, associated with woods and mountains; but there is also a darker version of the yakṣa, which is a kind of ghost (bhuta) that haunts the wilderness and waylays and devours travelers, similar to the rakṣasas.
Contents
1 Early Yakshas
1.1 Kubera
2 Yakshas in Buddhism
3 Yakshas in Jainism
3.1 Shasan devatas in Jainism
4 Yakshas in poems
5 Yakshas in Thailand
6 In popular culture
7 Gallery
8 See also
9 Notes
10 References
Explanation: