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Concept
Apsara
Summary
An apsaras or apsara (अप्सरा, अक्चरा) is a member of a class of celestial beings in Hindu and Buddhist culture. They are originally a type of female spirit of the clouds and waters, who later plays the role of a "nymph" or "fairy". They figure prominently in the sculpture, dance, literature and painting of many Indian and Southeast Asian cultures.
The apsaras are described to be beautiful, youthful and elegant, and are said to be able to change their shape at will. There are two types of apsaras—laukika (worldly) and daivika (divine). They are superb in the art of dancing, and often wives of the gandharvas, the court musicians of the king of the gods, Indra. The apsaras reside in the palaces of the gods and entertain them by dancing to the music made by the Gandharvas. The 26 apsaras of Indra's court are each said to symbolise a different facet of the performing arts, drawing comparisons to the Muses of ancient Greece. They are also renowned for seducing sages in order to prevent them from attaining divine powers. Urvashi, Menaka, Rambha, Tilottama and Ghritachi are the most famous among the apsaras.
The origin of 'apsara' is the Sanskrit अप्सरस्, apsaras (in the stem form, which is the dictionary form). NB The stem form ends in 's' as distinct from, e.g. the nominative singular Ramas/Ramaḥ (the deity Ram in Hindi), whose stem form is Rama. The nominative singular form is अप्सरास् apsarās, or अप्सरा: apsarāḥ when standing alone, which becomes अप्सरा apsarā in Hindi, from which in turn the English 'apsara' presumably is derived. The Monier-Williams Dictionary gives the etymology as अप् + √सृ, "going in the waters or between the waters of the clouds".
Apsaras are widely known as Apsara (អប្សរា ) in Khmer, and also called as Accharā in Pāli, or Bidadari (Malay, Maranao), Biraddali (Tausug, Sinama), Hapsari/Apsari or Widadari/Widyadari (Javanese, Sundanese, and Balinese), Helloi (Meitei) and Apsorn (อัปสร).
The most ancient descriptions of apsara portray them as "water nymph"-like beings.
Official source
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