A prominent feature of Indian sculpture, it depicts a female deity with stylised and sometimes exaggerated feminine features, elaborate hairstyles and jewellery shown holding the branch of a tree, usually the sala tree, or standing near one. It is believed to have emerged from ancient Indian tree deities and signifying fertility. According to the Buddhist text Avadanasataka, the festival of salabhanjika parva was celebrated to mark the flowering of the sala tree. From the Sanskrit, meaning “breaking the branch of a sala tree”.
Salabhanjika
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