YAKSHA

also spelled Yaksa, Sanskrit masculine singular Yaksa, feminine singular Yaksi, or Yaksini, in the mythology of India, a class of generally benevolent nature spirits who are the custodians of treasures that are hidden in the earth and in the roots of trees. Principal among the yakshas is Kubera (q.v.), who rules in the mythical Himalayan kingdom called Alaka. Yakshas were often given homage as tutelary deities of a city, district, lake, or well. Their worship, together with popular belief in nagas (serpent deities), feminine fertility deities, and mother goddesses, probably had its origin among the early Dravidian peoples of India. The yaksha cult coexisted with the priest-conducted sacrifices of the Vedic period, and continued to flourish during the Kusana period. In art, sculptures of yakshas were among the earliest of deities, apparently preceding images of the bodhisattvas and of Brahmanical deities, whose representation they influenced. They were the prototypes also for the attendants of later Hindu, Buddhist, and Jaina art.