The famous female figurine of 300 BC

 

Standing tall at Patna Museum, Bihar, India (Source: Internet)

Qadam-I-Rasul has a very significant meaning. Qadam or Kadam stands for feet and Rasul is the Prophet. Thus, Qadam-I-Rasul means foot or footprint of the Prophet. It is said that one very pious person named Syed Shah Muhammad Noor Naqsh had brought the imprint of footprint of Prophet from holy Mecca. This has been preserved since ages at a mosque and logically the mosque is called Qadam-I-Rasul mosque.

Qadam-I-Rasul mosque is located at Didarganj of Patna, Bihar on the bank of river Ganges. People throng the mosque to have a look at the holy footprint, kept in the alcove or shelf on the western part. The flow of religious minded persons to the mosque and to the locality for pilgrimage varied from time to time.

A close look of the statue at Patna Museum, Bihar, India (Source: Internet)

But on 18 Oct 1917, suddenly there was brisk activity in the nearby area of the mosque with many people converging in. On the north-eastern side of the mosque, local villagers dug out a full length stone figurine of a beautiful lady. It was found out by chance.

It was full size statue of a beautiful lady standing on a pedestal. The height of the pedestal was one feet and seven and half inches. The length and breadth of the square pedestal was one foot and eight inches. The height of the statue alone was five feet and two inches. The statue was complete in all respect. She was holding a chourie in her right hand and left hand was broken. It was curved out of a single piece of Chunar Sandstone. The structure was self-supporting.

Once cleaned, the polished stone doll gleamed under the beaming sun rays.

Since it was found at Didarganj, it was named Didarganj Yakshi. As the lady was carrying a Chauri or flywhisk or Chamar (used for puja, worship etc), it was given a tag of ‘Didarganj Yakshi Chauri Bearer’. Chauri is said to be originally made with the tuft of hairs from the tails of Chauri Gai (cows). These cows are found in the Himalayan region of Nepal and Tibet.

A Chowri (Source: Internet)

Let us look back in the history of that area. The area which we know as Patna was erstwhile Pataliputra. Megasthenes, the Greek explorer and historian had visited (302 -288 BC) Pataliputra during the reign of Chadragupta Maurya (322-297 BCE) who was the founder of Maurya Empire and Pataliputra was its capital. 

A commemorative stamp was issued by India Post on emperor Chandragupta Maurya on 21 July 2001.

Emperor Chandragupta Maurya

Megasthenes had praised the architecture and beauty of palace of the emperor. According to him it was comparable with the magnificent architectures of Persian capital. His son - Dionysius, had visited Patliputra when one of the most powerful emperor of ancient India - Ashoka the Great, the grandson of Chadragupta was ruling the empire. 

India Post has issued a commemorative stamp on emperor Ashoka on 24 Aug 2015.

It was well established that during Maurya era stone masonry had excelled.

Front view of the magnificent Lady at Patna Museum, Bihar, India (Source: Internet)

Archaeologists have identified the Didarganj Yakshi Chauri Bearer statue with Mauryan era with estimated Mauryan period (300 - 200 BC). The glittering lady speaks a volume about the skills of stone polishing of the artisans of the bygone era.

Back side view of the Lady at Patna Museum, Bihar, India (Source: Internet)

 The description of the stone beauty needs some choicest vocabulary. The lady has a well proportioned body and is holding the chauri in her right hand. Since the left hand is broken and could not be traced, nobody knows that what she was holding in her left hand. The  damage on the left side indicates that the there was some attachment.

She is eternally standing in a very graceful pose. She possesses round face with sharp lips and fleshy cheeks. In the neck, a necklace is dangling which has passed down below well developed pair of heavy spherical breasts. Though the beads of the necklace are clearly visible, the locket part is broken.

A close look of the 'cloths' & ornaments (Source: Internet)

Jewelry is adoring every part of her anatomy, from head to toe, barring bare slim waist. She has ornaments over her head as well as below her waistline. She has bangles in her arm which is holding the chauri. The lines of chauri has continued till her back. Hairs have been neatly knotted in the back but the forelock can not be missed. Ghungroos are tied to her feet.  

 

Broken left hand side of the beautiful Lady at Patna Museum, Bihar, India (Source: Internet)

Each fold of 'cloths' gives an impression of transparency and delicate chisel work. Cloths are held in place with designer ornaments. The nose is broken but that is different story for which we shall come back.

According to Hindu mythology, in the heaven there certain sects which are lesser than the Gods and Goddesses. Some of them are Gandharva (singer), Yaksha and Yakshi, Kinnara (musician) etc. Yaksha and Yakshi are empowered to protect Lord Indra and wealth. Yakshi or Yakshini is the feminine counterpart of Yaksha. Both are lesser divine.  

Now the story of the broken nose of the Yakshi. 

It was recorded that at the time of discovery, barring the right hand, the statue was intact. During one of the ‘Festival of India’, held during 1985 at USA (Smithsonian Institution and the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.), this rare piece of art, probably most beautiful and oldest surviving female figure on the earth, was sent for display purpose. On that occasion of Festival Of India, India Post had issued a postage stamp on that lady - Didarganj Yakshi on 13 June 1985. 

It was unfortunate that during the transit, the idol got damaged and nose broke! 

A close up of the broken nose (Source: Internet)

After the incident, the seriousness of irreparable damage done to the rarest of the rare archaeological artifact was realized. Subsequently, a decision was taken by the competent authority that in future this statue will not be participating in any of the overseas exhibition (Source: Wikipedia). It has been kept at Patna Museum, where it was shifted after discovery from the excavation site by Prof. J N Samaddar, the renowned archaeologist.

Visitors get awestruck to see the beauty of the marveling piece. Some try to imagine the skill and perfection of the sculpture. Others imagine the mortal look of the beautiful lady whom the sculpture has turned into stone.

Permanent Pictorial Cancellation of Didarganj Yakshi

In order to spread the awareness about this timeless beauty in stone and rich cultural heritage of ancient India, a Permanent Pictorial Cancellation of Didarganj Yakshi was introduced by India Post. 

Permanent Pictorial Cancellation on a Postcard

It is available at General Post Office (GPO), Patna, Bihar, India.

A close up of the Permanent Pictorial Cancellation

Acknowledgement:

For this story, the writer is indebted to Shri K J Karan, respected former senior colleague in Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. Even at this age of nearing eighty, he personally went to the HPO Patna to get the Permanent Pictorial Cancellation of Didarganj Yakshi for me. Besides, in the past also he has helped to enrich philately collection by contributing materials from abroad.

The author is also thankful to one of his daughters - Sheema. She has helped in getting certain authentic inputs from renowned historians from Patna for the write up.

In the electronic media, the story was published in the Ananthapuri Stamp Bulletin (Sept 2020). 

Disclaimer:

The information provided in the article is for general informational purposes only. All information is provided in good faith. This is only for the sharing of knowledge of Philately with philatelist fraternity. No commercial angle, whatsoever, is involved. No intention to infringe any type of copyright. Under no circumstances shall I have any liability for reliance on any information provided in the story.

The Eternal Bonding

The story of Badal as told by Sonali Sen Biswas and scripted by the author.

Badal, the Badshah

Daily feeding of the streeties (the four-legged friendly furry creatures living on the streets of our locality) was one of my regular tasks. I would go to feed them every night. Earlier I would go to the park of the locality in the morning as well as in the evening to feed them. However, there was much of opposition and resistance from the ‘educated’ and well to do people (both genders inclusive), towards my feeding those strays. There were several incidents of heated arguments with them as they were against the feeding of dogs in the park. According to them the parks were meant for humans and not for ‘dogs’, that too street dog. These dogs might carry infections, they might bite them, they might cause injury, they might spoil the park with their poops etc., and many more imaginative arguments. Though I would fight back with logic, there was hardly any taker for my points as they would quarrel with pre-conceived notions. Gradually it became difficult for me to feed them in the park.

I had to change my strategy or rather change my time for feeding them. I switched over to late at night when those morning or evening walkers who were only concerned about their own health and wealth would retreat to their cozy drawing room or to bedroom, to be precise. While they would enjoy the cool breeze of air conditioners at home in the sultry summer, these poor creatures were left on the road to bear the hot and dusty weather. Not to mention that most of the time and many of them would struggle on the road in empty stomach.

At night, whenever I would go to feed them they would greet me by jumping and licking around. There would be commotion associated with barking and fighting of course among themselves for food. I had to distribute the daily ration with utmost care and strictness so that all of them would get their equal shares. I had to keep an eye to see that the strong ones do not bully others.

 In this process, one day I noticed him. He was a strongly built male with very thick black and white furry coat. The outer coat was long and coarse while the undercoat was thick. In the intense heat of summer, his bulky coat would make him pant heavily. Though his head was of medium size which was flat at the top, it was bigger than any of other dog on the road. He had distinct black nose over a pointed muzzle and a pair of triangular ears, drooping at the ends.  His majestic bushy tail was little curled upward. His muscular chest and well laid back shoulder could easily command respect from other fellows. Clearly, he was out of the place and no way appeared to be a dog born on the nearby footpath. After returning home I could not forget the gaze of his rimmed and dark luminous pair of eyes. It was inviting, loving and full of affection.

Badal in the park

Later I came to know about him from the security guards of the close-by housing societies. He was the alpha male of the locality who ruled the street with iron fists. He had imposed his supremacy by his power, strength and non-compromising aggressiveness. To those guards he was known as ‘Suresh’. At this point I thought ‘Badal’ would be ideal name for him because of his gorgeous black and white robe.

An appeal

Since then I would meet Badal more than often during feeding time and beyond. However, he would maintain distance from me. He would not jump straight way on the feeding bowl and would observe me from a respectable gap. I had to give him feed separately from the others. He would eat and then would look at me through his impressive eyes till the time I would stand there. Gradually, he started occupying a space in my heart. I didn’t realize that he had already placed himself at the core of my heart.

In a playful mood

This feeding routine was going on and one day I noticed that Badal was conspicuously absent. For next couple of days he remained absent. I became really worried as meanwhile I had developed certain special attraction for him. Every night I would expect him to turn up but in vain. It rang an alarm bell within me.

After homework is done!

After a few days I thought of looking out for him. One night, equipped with a powerful torch and a mobile phone I went out around the locality to search for him. I looked out at every garbage dump I could access, each possible corner of the park, housing societies but no luck. An effort of more than an hour was wasted with no trace of him. I started walking back towards home.  While walking down the footpath, this time I was focusing the light of my torch in the wide drain by the footpath. It was a matter of chance that I could locate him inside the drain at an obscure location.

Winter is here

I was astonished to see his condition. There was an injury on his neck which was full with maggots. In the light of the torch I could see that flies have laid eggs on that injury. Over last couple of days those eggs have turned into maggots (larvae). Hundreds of larvae were feeding on his live flesh. He was writhing in acute pain. What an awful scene and disgusting smell!

Sleep time

His expressions had more of helplessness than aggression. It was difficult for me to retrieve him from that drain. Through my mobile phone I sought help from my son. He came running from home. With great difficulty, we mother-son duo retrieved him from the drain. Now, what next?

There were only two alternatives – just leave him like that at the mercy of God. Another option though sounded impractical but the only way to ensure his cure – take him along to our home for treatment. We discussed and debated for a while and ultimately returned home carrying him.

 

Badal entered our home or hearts

That’s how Badal first entered my heart and subsequently to my home. It was a very difficult task to remove the maggots from the injury while bearing the emanating stench. He underwent prolonged treatment. Vet would visit our home at regular intervals. Para-vets would do daily round for dressing the injured part. Gradually healing process started and over a period of time he became fit and fine. He occupied the couch in the drawing room as his permanent seat.

 

The King on his throne

His background was shrouded in mystery and was limited by our imaginations. His body contour and behavior clearly indicated that he was a mighty Himalayan sheep dog which was found in the Himalayan region (Eastern Nepal to Ladak, Jammu and Kashmir). This breed may be distant cousin of Kinnaur Sheep dog of Tibet. Locally they are known as Bhotia Kukur. The breed is known for loyalty and aggressiveness.

From the tree laden Himalayan slopes how he landed in the concrete jungle remained an unsolved puzzle. To our utter surprise, we found him to be perfectly toilet trained. He would wait for hours together without making any noise till we would take him out for relieving. There was no need for lease training. From all these observations we came to a conclusion that someone might have brought him from his original place at a tender age. He definitely might have been cuddly and cute as a puppy. However, as he grew old the cuteness of puppy had vanished and Badal had grown into a self-asserting male. Gradually, it became difficult for the owner to handle him. So they had deserted him on the road, and forever.

Coming out from the comfort of the house and surviving on road was definitely not easy for Badal. He had to fight with local Indies who were ruling the area. Probably his power packed muscular body had come to his rescue.  Over the years he had established himself as uncrowned king of the street. Don was born.

 

Badal, the don

By the time we met him, his prime years were over and his physical strengths were declining. He gradually developed hip dysplasia and faced difficulty in getting up on his throne. Many a times we would help him to climb the sofa. The black color on his coat started greying. White patches, all over body, legs, face and ears started spreading. Simultaneously, possibly he developed glaucoma as he would walk inside the house with the guidance of his olfactory glands and audiometric nerves. His teeth started falling off one after another. I would hand feed him otherwise he was not able to eat and swallow himself.

Moods of Maharaja

One fine morning, in a failed attempt to get on to the sofa he fell down. Though there was no visible injury outside, his condition started deteriorating very fast. It was difficult for him to breadth. He began gasping for air. Without wasting time we rushed him to the vet. Doctor put Badal on the table and examined. Vet immediately gave a couple of injections to Badal. It appeared that Badal was not responding to the medicines. The team of the assistants of the doctor swung into action. He was put on drip. Glucose water flowed drop by drop into his veins. Though he was breathing, he laid motionless. I could see the signs of frown on the forehead of the Vet. I shuddered inside.

Expecting the worse to come, I moved close to the table on which Badal was lying. The steel table was cold as ice. I took his head on my palms. I wanted that all warmth of my body be transferred to him. I prayed that coldness of the steel table should not be able to reach his body. He stared at me and I would not ever forget that look. We kept on looking at each other. Really I don’t know when my Badal budda (old fellow) actually stopped seeing me.

Badal remaining in our hearts

A glance of Badal in a documentary. Here is the link:

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The story was published in  popular dog lovers' magazine 'Buddy Life', Apr-June 2018 issue. Relevant pages are reproduced here for the benefit of readers.

Cover of the magazine

Page 1 of 3

Page 2 of 3

Page 3 of 3

A Big Thank from Badal to you for reading

Venezuela: The Country of Cheapest Gasoline

Picture source: www.freepngimg.com

Which country has the cheapest gasoline or petrol in this world?

The answer is - Venezuela (5000 Venezuelan Bolivar, almost US$ 0.025, approx Rs. 2.00 per litre).

Another allied question - which country, on earth, has largest proven reserve of crude petroleum oil?

Here also the answer is - Venezuela.

But the intriguing fact is that in spite of having biggest oil reserve of the world, today Venezuela is importing gasoline or petrol from Iran to meet its domestic demand!

A flotilla of five tankers consisting of Fortune, Forest, Petunia, Faxon and Clavel with on-board mainly gasoline and intermediates to produce gasoline, worth about US$ 45.5 million, reached the ports of Venezuela in the last week of May - first week of June 2020. The interesting part was that all these tankers were Iranian flagged. 

The combined capacity of all the five tankers was about 175,000 metric tonnes. The probable load-port was Persian Gulf Star Refinery, Bandar Abbas, Iran and were loaded sometime in Mar 2020. In the history of petroleum business, this was for the first time, such kind of oil trade happened between an Islamic republic country and a nation of South America.

Venezuela is one, out of five, founder member of Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) - established in Sept 1960. It has world's largest proven crude oil reserve (302,809 million barrels). In the country, the first commercial well was dug on the shores of Lake Maracaibo in 1914. Oil export revenue contributed 99% of the export earning of the country. Though it has the largest reserve of crude oil, presently it is staring at import of refined products to meet its requirement.

OPEC

The country is in its sixth year of recession. Last year, inflation was astronomical 800,000%. Economy is devastated and scarcity of food, medicine and fuel etc., is acute all over the country. Pandemic COVID-19 has only turned the situation from bad to worse. Political problems, coupled with economic crisis, has crippled the nation for past several years. Deterioration of law and order situation has forced nearly five million people to leave the country. USA has unilaterally imposed economic sanction on Venezuela by declaring the country’s election as null and void. It has declared that the election was rigged and hence winning of Nicolas Maduro in the election, was illegal. Besides USA, this view is endorsed by UK and several other countries.

The country was exchanging crude oil for gasoline imports with Roseneft, the Russian oil giant. US imposed sanctions on Roseneft in Feb-Mar 2020 which forced Roseneft to wind up from Venezuela.

Pandemic coronavirus has further complicated the situation. Health workers are forced to wait in the queue for gas, before proceeding to the hospitals. An overnight wait in the queue may result in getting somewhat 30 litres as the commodity is rationed.

Refineries of Venezuelan National Oil Company - Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA) are working on reduced throughput due to various reasons, ranging from shortage of skilled manpower, non-availability of spare parts for repair and maintenance, irregular power supply, corruption, and mismanagement of course. Against a total capacity of 1.3 mbpd, it had processed only 0.11 mbpd and 0.215 mbpd in Mar and Apr 2020, respectively.

PDVSA

Total number of cars in the country is about 5 million, catered by about 1800 gas stations. It is in dire need of gasoline for last couple of months. Long queues of cars are visible at the petrol bunks of Caracas, the capital of Venezuela and outside. People are waiting in serpentine queue for long hours for gas. Black marketing of the fuel where it costs somewhere near to $2 per litre vs official rate of $0.02 per litre, is rampant.The flotilla was carrying about 1.53 million barrels of gasoline and alkylate which might meet the requirement for nearly a month, with present rate of consumption.

PDVSA Gas Staion

After completion of a journey of more than 14,000 kms, on 26 May 2020 tanker Fortune, first in the series, berthed and discharged at a port connected to El Palito refinery of PDVSA in Puerto Cabello, state of Carabobo, Venezuela. The capacity of El Palito refinery of PDVSA is more than 140,000 barrels per day (bpd). However, Puerto la Cruz refinery of capacity of 187,000 bpd continued to be non-operational.

Subsequently, tanker Forest moored at another port in west Venezuela, linked to Cardon refinery, the second biggest refinery of the country.

Tankers Petunia, Faxon and Clavel docked at the jetties, later on.

On the other hand the sender country - Iran, was net importer of gasoline but due to coronavirus endemic, local demand of gasoline has plummeted. That made sense to export the product.

Autographed by H.E Dr. Ali Chegeni, Ambassador of Iran to India

Meanwhile, US made various efforts to stop this shipment of gasoline from Iran to Venezuela. US Navy deployed for anti-drug trafficking operations the U.S.S Detroit, U.S.S Lassen, U.S.S Preble and U.S.S. Faar, from its naval force, along the said sea route.

On the diplomatic front it issued demarches (warnings) to various governments, port authorities, shipping agencies and ship owners, insurance companies etc., about the possibility of facing sanctions, in case they became party to the voyage, directly or indirectly.

However, the Iranian vessels have reached the destination without any hindrance or disruption from US side.

Besides supplying gasoline and intermediates (alkylate), it has been assumed that Iran has provided machinery and technicians by air (Mahan Airlines of Iran) for trouble shooting and immediate resumption of production of gasoline at Cardon refinery (310,000 bpd capacity) of Venezuela. A multi-dimensional support were provided by Iran to Venezuela through supply of refined gasoline, gasoline additives, technical expertise and spare parts for refinery maintenance.

Alkylate is a mixture of branched-chain paraffinic hydrocarbons (iso-heptane and iso-octane mainly) with high-octane number. The high octane number provides good antiknock properties and thus alkylate is considered as a premium blending stock for gasoline. With alkylate parcel, Venezuela will be able to ramp up domestic production of gasoline faster.

Effective 01 June 2020, with the imported gasoline, monthly quota system as well as dual pricing system were put in the place. This ended the age-old practice of cheapest gasoline for the citizens in the world. In a month, two wheelers and car owners would get 60 and 120 litres of gasoline respectively at a subsidized price of 5000 Venezuelan Boliver (US$0.025) per litre. Beyond that limit, gasoline would have to be purchased at US$ 0.50 per litre. It goes without saying that motorists mopped up the domestic quota as soon as the stations started selling gasoline. Imported gasoline would be distributed through select 200 gas stations operated by private contractors.

US has stated that the payment terms were made in gold. The aircrafts of Mahan Airlines which brought man and materials from Iran to Venezuela, have carried back gold in the return trips. It was said that in the month of Apr 2020 alone, 9.0 tons of gold (international value of US$ 500 million) was transferred from Venezuela to Iran.

Venezuela is having gold, worth US$ 1 billion, stashed in vaults of Bank of England, London. President Maduro has asked for released of the gold for fighting COVID-19. Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó has opposed this move. Since UK does not recognise Maduro as President, it has refused to release the gold.

Both the countries, Iran and Venezuela, are facing U.S sanctions for some reason or other. According to the economic sanctions, unilaterally imposed by the US, export of oil by both these nations are restricted. For Venezuela, US sanctions have restricted the types and sources of fuel it can export (hitting its major income) and import.

With this kind of oil trade between Iran and Venezuela, a new club is emerging in the horizon where the countries facing economic sanctions from US are cooperating with each other and consolidating the position.

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