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apsara
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apsara Apsaras, heavenly dancing girls, bas-relief from Angkor Wat, Angkor, Cambodia, early 12th century. apsara figure in Sigiriya, Sri Lanka
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apsara
apsara Apsara (celestial nymph), striated marble, from Rajasthan, India, c. 1450; in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

apsara

Indian religion and mythology
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History

apsara, in Indian religion and mythology, one of the celestial singers and dancers who, together with the gandharvas, or celestial musicians, inhabit the heaven of the god Indra, the lord of the heavens. Originally water nymphs, the apsaras provide sensual pleasure for both gods and men. They have been beautifully depicted in sculpture and painting in India and throughout areas of South and Southeast Asia influenced by Hinduism and Buddhism. Notable examples are the 5th–6th-century frescoes at Ajanta in India and at Sigiriya in Sri Lanka and the sculptures and bas-reliefs decorating the temples of Angkor, Cambodia.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Virginia Gorlinski.