A modified image of the iconic bronze figurine known as the "Dancing Girl" of Mohenjo-daro has reportedly appeared in NCERT's new Class 9 textbook, sparking concerns on how one of India's most recognisable archaeological artefacts is being presented to students.
The bronze figurine, one of the most recognisable relics of the Indus Valley Civilisation, appears with its bare torso obscured in Madhurima, NCERT's new arts education textbook for Class 9. Shading has been added across the upper body, making it noticeably different from photographs of the original sculpture.
Discovered at Mohenjo-daro, the Dancing Girl remains among the best-known artefacts from the Indus Valley Civilisation.
The change has also drawn attention because the same artefact appears unaltered in NCERT's Class 6 Social Science textbook.
Image was deemed 'not age-appropriate'
Historian Michel Danino, who headed the committee that developed NCERT's new Class 6 Social Science books, said he was previously told that the “Dancing Girl” image had been flagged as unsuitable for younger students.
"This refers to our Grade 6 Social Science textbook. The reason I was given was that the image of the Dancing Girl was not age-appropriate," Danino told news agency PTI.
{{/usCountry}}"This refers to our Grade 6 Social Science textbook. The reason I was given was that the image of the Dancing Girl was not age-appropriate," Danino told news agency PTI.
{{/usCountry}}According to him, the textbook team did not agree with that assessment. "Our team disagreed; we even checked with teachers of class 6, and they told us there was never a problem with the Dancing Girl," he said.
Danino questioned the reasoning behind such concerns, saying, “The notion that nudity is inappropriate is, in my opinion, an obsolete Victorian view. Yet we speak of decolonising Indian education.”
"If the Dancing Girl cannot figure as she is, and with proper dimensions, in a chapter on Indian art, then we have a serious problem," he said.
“The modification misrepresents the original artefact just as the Church's addition of a fig leaf to Michelangelo's statue of David in the Middle Ages misrepresented that beautiful work of art,” PTI quoted the historian as saying.
Danino further criticised alterations to images of historical objects, saying they risk distorting the record.
Textbook asks students to analyse figurine's pose
The chapter, titled History of Arts, identifies the Dancing Girl as a bronze figurine from Mohenjo-daro dating to around 2600 BCE. It describes the sculpture as an example of the lost-wax casting technique, a method that the textbook notes is still practised in parts of West Bengal, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh.
"This sculpture depicts a posture with one knee bent, one hand on the waist and a slightly lifted chin," the textbook says.
Students are also asked to interpret what the pose might represent and participate in an activity that involves recreating and sketching the stance.
NCERT has not yet explained why the figurine is depicted differently in its Class 9 arts textbook and Class 6 Social Science book.
(With PTI inputs)