Salabhanjikas also called Madanikas are the sculptures of beautiful feminine figures, typically standing under a Sala or Ashoka tree, in various stylized poses such as holding a branch, dancing, grooming herself or playing some musical instrument. These sculptures were distinguished by exquisite carvings, perfect hairstyles and abundance of jewelry carved with precision. Salabhanjikas were an important decorative element of ancient Indian Sculpture. Salabhanjikas are also often mentioned in ancient and modern Indian literature.
The salabhanjika concept of Indian Sculpture has emerged from ancient tradition called "dohada" in which a chaste maiden was symbolically linked with a Sala tree or Ashoka tree for the ritual of fertilisation. The symbolism changed over the course of time and the salabhanjika became figures used as ornamental carvings, usually located in the area where worshipers engage in circumambulation, near the garbhagriha (Sanctum Sanctorum) of Hindu temples. Placed at an angle, salabhanjika figures also were used in temple architecture as a bracket figures.
One of the earliest known examples of Salabhanjika is found on the eastern gateway of Sanchi Stupa near Bhopal, originally built by Mauryan Emperor Ashoka in 3rd Century BC. Another notable example is found at the Durkhi Devi Temple, near Kumrahar, in the ancient city of Pataliputra (Patna), dating back to 1st Century BC. but the most renowned Salabhanjika sculptures are found in the 12th-century Hoysala temples of Belur, Halebidu and Somanathapura, in south-central Karnataka. Another less-known location famous for its outstanding salabhanjikas is a Chalukya period temple in Jalasangvi, Homnabad Taluk on the Gulbarga-Bidar state highway, at the northern end of Karnataka. Its well-endowed Madanika figures in seductive tribhanga poses are "...moon breasted, swan-waisted and elephant-hipped", according to the Indian artistic canons. These older feminine sculptures were the source of inspiration for the later Hoysala bracket-figures.
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