mudgar
{{Short description|Type of mace from India}}
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Mathura, 100 BCE
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| footer=Mudgarpani ("Mace-holder") Yaksha, Art of Mathura, 100 BCE. This colossal statue in the round is 1.96 meters tall.Dated 100 BCE in Fig.88 in {{cite book |last1=Quintanilla |first1=Sonya Rhie |title=History of Early Stone Sculpture at Mathura: Ca. 150 BCE - 100 CE |date=2007 |page=368, Fig. 88|publisher=BRILL |isbn=9789004155374 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X7Cb8IkZVSMC&pg=PA368 |language=en}} The right hand holds a mudgar, the left hand used to support a small standing devotee or child joining hands in prayer.Fig. 85 in {{cite book |last1=Quintanilla |first1=Sonya Rhie |title=History of Early Stone Sculpture at Mathura: Ca. 150 BCE - 100 CE |date=2007 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=9789004155374 |page=Fig.85, p.365 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X7Cb8IkZVSMC&pg=PA365 |language=en}}
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A mudgar ({{Langx|sa|मुद्गर|translit=mudgara}}) or mudgara{{Cite book |last=Books |first=Kausiki |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fvxLEAAAQBAJ&dq=mudgara+mace&pg=PT169 |title=Skanda Purana: Brahma Khanda: Dharmottara Khanda: English Translation only without Slokas |date=2021-10-24 |publisher=Kausiki Books |pages=169 |language=en}} is a type of gada (mace) from India, and it is generally considered to be made of wood, but can also be made of iron.{{cite book |title=Bulletin of the Victoria Memorial |date=1973 |publisher=Trustees of the Victoria Memorial. |page=49 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AEUwAAAAMAAJ |language=en}}
Usage
The mudgar appears is ancient Indian sculptures, where it is commonly held by Yaksha deities, known as mudgarpani ({{IAST|mudgarapāṇi}}; mudgar-holders).{{cite book |last1=Handa |first1=Devendra |last2=Agrawal |first2=Ashvini |title=Ratna-chandrikā: Panorama of Oriental Studies : Shri R.C. Agrawala Festschrift |date=1989 |publisher=Harman Publishing House |isbn=978-81-85151-29-8 |page=90 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8KEtAAAAMAAJ |language=en}}
An ancient Jain story named the Antagadadasao tell the story of a man named Ajjunaka who was worshipping the image of the "Yaksa who held a mace", when he was attacked by five bandits, an event which shook his devotion to the Yashka. Afterwards the Yaksa possessed Ajjunaka, giving him the strength to kill the five bandits.{{cite book |last1=Sharma |first1=Ramesh Chandra |title=The Splendour of Mathurā Art and Museum |date=1994 |publisher=D.K. Printworld |isbn=978-81-246-0015-3 |page=76 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O-vVAAAAMAAJ |language=en}}
Nowadays, for training purposes when using Indian clubs, one or two wooden gada ("mudgar"), reaching up to 70 kilograms in weight, can be used: they can be swung behind the back in several different ways; this is particularly useful for building grip strength and shoulder endurance.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lBYz5jgA4-8C&pg=PA88|title=Self as Body in Asian Theory and Practice|last1=Kasulis|first1=Thomas P.|last2=Aimes|first2=Roger T.|last3=Dissanayake|first3=Wimal|date=1993|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=9780791410806|language=en}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=574592&partId=1|title=Mudgar exercise-club|website=British Museum|language=en-GB|access-date=2019-02-01}}
Examples
File:Yaksha Carrying Human Figure and Mudgar - 2nd Century BCE - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-24 6089.JPG|Yaksha holding mudgar and child. Art of Mathura, 100 BCE.Dated 100 BCE in Fig. 85 {{cite book |last1=Quintanilla |first1=Sonya Rhie |title=History of Early Stone Sculpture at Mathura: Ca. 150 BCE - 100 CE |date=2007 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=9789004155374 |page=Fig.85, p.365 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X7Cb8IkZVSMC&pg=PA365 |language=en}}