Key facts
- NCERT will restore the original 'Dancing Girl' image in its Class 9 Arts textbook.
- A modified image in the textbook covered the artifact's torso with dark shading.
- Historians and educationists criticized the alteration.
- The 'Dancing Girl' is a bronze figurine from Mohenjo-daro, dating to approximately 2600 BCE.
- The original image will be reinstated in digital books immediately and in future printed copies.
The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) will reinstate the original depiction of the 'Dancing Girl' figurine from Mohenjo-daro in its Class 9 Arts textbook following widespread criticism. The modified image, which obscured the artifact's bare torso with dark shading, had drawn accusations of disfigurement. The decision was made after a review by the Department of Arts Education and the textbook development committee. The original image will be reinstated immediately in digital textbooks and will appear in future printed editions. Michel Danino, who was involved in the development of NCERT's Class 6 Social Science textbook, had previously stated that the figurine was considered 'not age-appropriate,' a view criticized as an 'obsolete Victorian view.' The 'Dancing Girl,' a significant artifact of the Indus Valley Civilisation dating to around 2600 BCE, has appeared in textbooks for decades without censorship.