India gets her Yogini back

Stolen from a ramshackle temple in a sleepy village of Uttar Pradesh that landed in the hands of an art collector in Paris, an exquisite 10th-century stone sculpture of the Yogini, the female emblem of India’s mystical cult, is now the prized possession of National Museum.

The museum will celebrate the homecoming of the 4.5-foot-tall Vrishanana Yogini, the nearly 400-kg sculpture of a female deity with the buffalo-shaped head  by holding a unique, first-of-its kind exhibition based on a single object. 'In the past, National Museum has organised exhibitions focusing on specific themes, but it is for the first time that it is holding an exhibition on a single artefact,' said Dr Venu V, the museum Director General. ‘Although the exhibition focuses attention on an object, there are multiple themes that underpin it.’ 

The exhibition is to be jointly inaugurated by Culture Minister Chandresh Kumari Katoch and External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid at the museum on 19 September at 3 pm.

Dr Venu said a major objective of the exhibition is to increase awareness of the fascinating history of Yoginis and the elaborate rituals of their worship. ‘More importantly, it aims to bring into spotlight the disturbing reality of the continued illicit trafficking of India’s priceless cultural artefacts,’ he added.