Yakshini

"Yakshi" redirects here. For the 1967 Malayalam novel, see Yakshi (novel). For the 1968 film based on the novel of the same name, see Yakshi (film).

Yakshini 3rd century B.C. Patna Museum Patna

Yakshinis (Sanskrit: याक्षिणि, also called yaksinis or yaksis and yakkhini in Pali) are mythical beings of Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain mythology.

Description

A yakshini is the female counterpart of the male yaksha, and they both attend on Kubera (also called Kuber), the Hindu god of wealth who rules in the mythical Himalayan kingdom of Alaka. They both look after treasure hidden in the earth and resemble that of fairies. Yakshinis are often depicted as beautiful and voluptuous, with wide hips, narrow waists, broad shoulders, and exaggerated, spherical breasts. In the Uddamareshvara Tantra, thirty-six yakshinis are described, including their mantras and ritual prescriptions. A similar list of yakshas and yakshinis is given in the Tantraraja Tantra, where it says that these beings are givers of whatever is desired. Although Yakshinis are usually benevolent, there are also yakshinis with malevolent characteristics in Indian folklore.

The list of thirty-six yakshinis given in the Uddamareshvara Tantra is as follows:

A Yakshini. 10th century, Mathura, India. Guimet Museum.

1. Vichitra (The Lovely One)
2. Vibhrama (Amorous One)
3. Hamsi (Swan)
4. Bhishani (Terrifying),
5. Janaranjika (Delighting Men)
6. Vishala (Large Eyed)
7. Madana (Lustful)
8. Ghanta (Bell)
9. Kalakarni (Ears Adorned with Kalas)
10. Mahabhaya (Greatly Fearful)
11. Mahendri (Greatly Powerful)
12. Shankhini (Conch Girl)
13. Chandri (Moon Girl)
14. Shmashana (Cremation Ground Girl)
15. Vatayakshini, Mekhala (Love Girdle)
16. Vikala, Lakshmi (Wealth)
17. Malini (Flower Girl)
18. Shatapatrika (100 Flowers)
19. Sulochana (Lovely Eyed)
20. Shobha
21. Kapalini (Skull Girl)
22. Varayakshini
23. Nati (Actress)
24. Kameshvari
25. Unknown
26. Unknown
27. Manohara (Fascinating)
28. Pramoda (Fragrant)
29. Anuragini (Very Passionate)
30. Nakhakeshi
31. Bhamini
32. Padmini
33. Svarnavati
34. Ratipriya (Fond of Love)

Early figures

Yakshi under a flowering asoka tree. Sunga, 2nd-1st century BC, India

The three sites of Bharhut, Sanchi, and Mathura, have yielded huge numbers of Yakshi figures, most commonly on the railing pillars of stupas. These show a clear development and progression that establishes certain characteristics of the Yakshi figure such as her nudity, smiling face and evident (often exaggerated) feminine charms that lead to their association with fertility. The yakshi is usually shown with her hand touching a tree branch, and a sinuous pose, Sanskrit tribhanga.

The ashoka tree is closely associated with the yakshini mythological beings. One of the recurring elements in Indian art, often found at gates of Buddhist and Hindu temples, is a Yakshi with her foot on the trunk and her hands holding the branch of a stylized flowering ashoka or, less frequently, other tree with flowers or fruits. As an artistic element, often the tree and the Yakshi are subject to heavy stylization.

Some authors hold that the young girl at the foot of the tree is based on an ancient fertility symbol of the Indian Subcontinent. Yakshis were important in early Buddhist monuments as a decorative element and are found in many ancient Buddhist archaeological sites. They became Salabhanjikas (sal tree maidens) with the passing of the centuries, a standard decorative element of both Indian sculpture and Indian temple architecture.

The sal tree (Shorea robusta) is often confused with the ashoka tree (Saraca indica) in the ancient literature of the Indian Subcontinent. The position of the Salabhanjika is also related to the position of Queen Māyā of Sakya when she gave birth to Gautama Buddha under an asoka tree in a garden in Lumbini, while grasping its branch.

Yakshis in Jainism

An image of Jain goddess Ambika in Cave 34 of the Ellora Caves

In Jainism, there are twenty-four yakshis, including Chakreshvari, Ambika, and Padmavati, who are frequently represented in Jain temples. The names according to Tiloyapannatti (or Pratishthasarasangraha) and Abhidhanachintamani are:

• Chakreshvari
• Rohini, Ajitbala
• Prajnapti, Duritari
• Vajrashrankhala, Kali
• Vajrankusha, Mahakali
• Manovega, Shyama
• Kali, Shanta
• Jwalamalini, Bhrikuti
• Mahakali, Sutaraka
• Manavi, Ashoka
• Gauri, Manavi
• Gandhari, Chanda
• Vairoti, Vidita
• Anantamati, Ankusha
• Manasi, Kandarpa
• Mahamansi, Nirvani
• Jaya, Bala
• Taradevi, Dharini
• Vijaya, Dharanpriya
• Aparajita, Nardatta
• Bahurupini, Gandhari
• Ambika or Kushmandini
• Padmavati
• Siddhayika

Yakshis in Kerala

In South India, Yakshis are not considered benevolent beings. They are reputed to waylay men with their beauty and drink their blood.

Kalliyankattu Neeli

One of the most famous legendary stories of Yakshis in Kerala is that of Kalliyankattu Neeli, a powerful demoness who was finally stopped by the legendary Christian priest Kadamattathu Kathanar. The Yakshi theme is the subject of popular Kerala tales, like the legend of the Yakshi of Trivandrum, as well as of certain movies in modern Malayalam cinema.

Mangalathu Chiruthevi

Another lesser known Yakshi is Mangalathu Chiruthevi also known as Kanjirottu Yakshi. She was born into a Padamangalathu Nair tharavad by name Mangalathu at Kanjirode in South Travancore. She was a ravishingly beautiful courtesan who had an intimate relationship with Kunju Thampi, the rival of Marthanda Varma of Travancore.

Mangalathu Chiruthevi was infatuated with one of her servants, Kunjuraman. Kunjuraman, a Pondan Nair (palanquin-bearer), was a fair, tall, well-built and handsome young man. She and her brother Govindan used to ride on Kunjuraman's back to distant places. Chiruthevi enjoyed torturing Kunjuraman physically and mentally. A predatory sadist, she derived immense pleasure from humiliating him, spanking him, making him carry unbearably heavy objects, burning his feet with hot metal rods, suspending him in the air by means of a rope tied to his wrists, and strangling him. She did everything possible to separate him from his wife. Govindan felt pity for his servant and often admonished Chiruthevi. But Chiruthevi did not mend her ways. She was hatching a plot to liquidate Kunjuraman's wife. Once Govindan was travelling to Thiruvananthapuram on Kunjuraman's back when the former revealed the details of the plot. Days later, Kunjuraman strangled Chiruthevi to death when they were sharing a bed. Govindan winked at the crime and protected his servant, for whom he had great affection.

Chiruthevi was reborn as a vengeful Yakshi to a couple at Kanjirode. She grew into a bewitching beauty within moments of her birth. Though she seduced many men and drank their blood, her heart was set on the handsome Kunjuraman. She told him that she was willing to pardon him if he married her. Kunjuraman flatly refused. The Yakshi channelised all her energies in tormenting Kunjuraman's wife. Devastated, Kunjuraman approached Mangalathu Govindan for advice. Govindan was for a compromise. He said that the Yakshi could have Kunjuraman for a year provided she conformed to two conditions. One, she must agree to be installed at a temple after one year. Two, she should bless all those who love Kunjuraman not only in this birth but also in his subsequent births. Both the parties agreed and the compromise worked.

A year later, the Yakshi was installed at a Temple which later came to be owned by Kanjirottu Valiaveedu.

Reserve Bank of India headquarters, Delhi entrance with a Yakshini sculpture(c. 1960) depicting "Prosperity through agriculture".

In popular culture

In Christopher Pike’s novel The Last Vampire, a yakshini is an extremely powerful and evil demon that led to the creation of the vampires around 3000 B.C. in what is now present-day Rajasthan, India. A yakshini was summoned by an Aghoran priest so that it could devour a rakshasa that was causing a plague. The yakshini was summoned into the corpse of a recently deceased woman who had been pregnant. It took control of the woman’s body, horribly maimed and killed the priest, and then appeared to disappear. The yakshini in fact transferred itself into the baby in the dead woman's womb which then begins to show signs of life. The child is freed from the dead woman's womb and grows up as an Aryan boy who is the first vampire.

See also

• Apsara
• Ashoka tree
• Ethereal being
• Fairy
• Houri
• Isakki
• Nymph
• Salabhanjika
• Sitala

External links

• http://www.yakshi.in/concept-of-yakshi
• Encyclopædia Britannica — "Yaksha"
• RBI Monetary Museum — "Yaksha and Yakshini"
• Ideals of Female Beauty in Ancient India
• Huntingdon Archive