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Why the 4-Inch ‘Dancing Girl’ Figurine Rattles South Asia’s Puritans

The image of the nude torso of a millennia-old iconic figurine of a young woman was shaded in Indian school textbooks to make her appear clothed.  

The bronze figurine of the ‘Dancing Girl’ of Mohenjo-daro, which is housed in the National Museum at New Delhi, India.

Following strong criticism from educationists and historians for its blurring of an image of a figurine of a nude young woman in its history textbook for Class IX students, India’s National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has been forced to back down. It has agreed to replace the altered image of the iconic figurine with its “original version.”

“The correction is being implemented immediately in the digital version of the textbook, while the revised print editions will carry the original version of the image,” NCERT Director Dinesh Saklani told news agency ANI. An autonomous body under the federal education ministry, NCERT oversees curriculum changes and textbook content for children taking exams under the government-run CBSE system.

At the center of the controversy is an image of a four-inch bronze figurine, one of the most widely recognized and acclaimed artifacts of the Indus Valley Civilization, which dates back to circa 2600-1900 BCE.

The figurine, known as the “Dancing Girl,” was discovered at Mohenjo-daro in present-day Pakistan in the early 20th century. The sculpture depicts a young woman with her right hand resting on the back of her hips, her chin slightly tilted upwards, and her legs slightly bent at the knees. The figurine has a completely bare torso. Her hair is tied in a bun, and she wears bangles and a necklace. Her pose is striking for the confidence she exudes.

For decades, school history textbooks have carried pictures of the Dancing Girl figurine, which stands today in the National Museum in New Delhi, a proud symbol of an ancient civilization’s artistic prowess. Most artifacts of the Indus Valley Civilization found so far were made of terra cotta; the Dancing Girl figurine is of bronze and indicates the civilization’s mastery over metallurgy. The figurine provided students with insight into the social life of the Indus Valley people, their adornments, and aesthetics.

But in a recently released NCERT Class IX textbook, the figurine’s torso has been shaded over, hiding its anatomical features.

So why did NCERT officials decide to give images of the Dancing Girl a makeover? The fact that she is nude seems to have rattled them, prompting them to shade the image of her bare torso to make it appear like she is clothed.

India was never a puritanical society. Temples are replete with sculptures of gods and goddesses that are naked but adorned with jewelry. The Khajuraho group of temples, built between 900 AD and 1130 AD, is adorned with erotic sculptures.

It was during British colonial rule that Victorian morality and prudishness crept into society in a big way.

Under the rule of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is socially conservative and deeply patriarchal, even misogynistic in its outlook and policies, India has........

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