THE National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) will replace the modified image of the iconic “Dancing Girl” figurine of Mohenjo-daro in its Class 9 Arts textbook with the original version, following criticism over the ‘clothed’ depiction of the artefact. The move comes as a debate erupted over the representation of one of the most recognisable archaeological artefacts from the Indus Valley Civilisation in school textbooks. Asked by PTI whether the NCERT will replace the retouched image of the ‘Dancing Girl’ in the Class 9 Arts textbook with the original version, its Director Dinesh Saklani replied in the affirmative.

 

The bronze figurine -- “Dancing Girl” of Mohenjo-daro -- was depicted with its bare torso covered in the opening chapter, “History of Arts”, of Madhurima, NCERT’s new Class 9 Arts education textbook. In the version carried in the textbook, the torso of the figurine appears visually altered compared to the photographs of the original artefact, with shading used across the upper body that obscures anatomical details visible in the sculpture. Unlike the image used in the new Class 9 arts textbook, the “Dancing Girl” in NCERT’s Class 6 Social Science textbook appears in a form closer to the original bronze sculpture. Michel Danino, who headed the textbook development committee for NCERT’s new Class 6 Social Science books, said he had been told that the Dancing Girl figurine was considered “not age-appropriate”. “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 PTI. “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.