- Perhaps, the most beautiful amongst all of Indus valley art is the statue of ‘Dancing girl’
- This statue is made of metaland is probably one of the finest examples of the artistic and technical skills of Indus Valley craftsmen
- This female figure at the same time shows the fine skills of metal casting and artistic refinery.
- The figure is lanky, thin and rhythmic in character
- Some very interesting points can be noticed in sculpture:
First of all, while she has been shown without clothes, in her left hand she has bangles till almost her shoulder, very much like we can find in the tribal people of modern days in Gujarat and Rajasthan region.
Second important thing to notice is the hairstyle. While the other mother goddess figures, which have been found from this civilization, have a queer and elaborate hair style. This figure shows a much contemporary style.
Also to be noticed is its curious posture. She stands in a resting posture with her right hand at her waist and her left hand on her left thigh. The casting is perfect. It shows accuracy of the artists in metal casting during that period
There is tremendous monumentality in this particular sculpture. That means, though this is approximately 4 inches in height only, it seems to be a larger one to us. This is what makes it really unique
- Two male figures – one a torso in red sandstone and the other a bust of a bearded man in steatite are other important evidences of sculptures from this time period
- Kalibangan and Daimabadhave yielded significant examples of metal- cast sculptures.
- Apart from metal sculptures, sculptures made from terracotta have also been discovered here. Some well-known examples of these are Mother Goddess, Toy carts with wheels, whistles, birds and animals etc
- Most of the images were used for religious and ritualistic purposes.
- The metal casting process was also used for making articles of daily use like utensils.