The Loves of Krishna in Indian Painting and Poetry

gra, a large Hindu state within the Punjab Hills.[66] It was here that Krishna, the cowherd lover, was most fully celebrated. Pictures we

ly to enthrall the northern half of India, its expression in art was the reverse of neat and orderly. Where a patron was so imbued with love for Krishna that adoration of the cowherd lover preceded all, the intensity of his feeling itself evoked a new style. There then resulted the Indian equivalent of pictures by El Greco, Grunewald or Altdorfer-paintings in which the artist's own religious emotions were the direct occasion of a new manner. In other cases, the patron might adhere to Krishna, pay him nominal respect or take a moderate pleasure in his story but not evince a burning enthusiasm. In such cases, paintings of Krishna would still be produced but the style would merely repeat existing conventions. The pictures which resulted would then resemble German paintings of the Danube or Cologne schools-pictures in which the artist applied an alrea

hem while journeying from Bengal on visits to the sites. The Gita Govinda of Jayadeva had become in fact as much a Western Indian text as the Balagopala Stuti of Bilvamangala. With manuscript illustrations being already produced in Western India-but not, so far as we know, elsewhere-it was not unnatural that the first illustrated versions of these poems should be painted here. And it is these circumstances which determined their style. Until the fifteenth century the chief manuscripts illustrated in Western India were Jain scriptures commissioned by members of the merchant community. Jainism had originate

in manuscripts had early conformed to a certain rigid type. The painting was marked by lean and wiry outlines, brilliant red and blue and above all by an air of savage ferocity expressed through the idiom of faces shown th

f Krishna texts. The three texts we have just mentioned are due to this tendency. All three are illustrated in the prevailing Jain style with its spiky angular idioms and all three have the same somewhat sinister air of barbarous frenzy. At the same time, all dis

ly 1598[68] and 1610[69] and consisting of the tenth book of the Bhagavata Purana, the third being yet another illustration of the Gita Govinda[70]. All three sets of illustrations are in a closely similar style-a style which, while possessing roots in Jain painting is now considerably laxer and more sprawling. The faces are no longer shown three-quarter view, the detached obtruding eye has gone and in place of the early sharpness there is now a certain slovenly cr

ah, a member of the marauding Muslim dynasties which since the twelfth century had enveloped Northern India; and it is possibly due to persistent Muslim influence that painting revived in the last two decades of the sixteenth century. Illustrated versions of passionate love poetry were executed[72] and as part of the same vogue for poetic romance, the Gita Govinda may once again have been illustrated.[73] Between the style of these later pictures and that of the Jain text of 1465, there are such clear affinities that the same local tradition is obviously responsible. Yet the new group of paintings has a distinctive elegance all its own. As in the previous group, the detached projecting eye has gone. Each situation is tr

nting which forms the starting point. This style is no longer the Turkman style of Shiraz but a later style-a local version of Safavid painting as current in Khurasan. With its lively and delicate naturalism it not only corresponded to certain predilections of the emperor Akbar himself, but seems also to have appealed to Indian artists recruited to the colony. Its representational finesse made it an ideal medium for transcribing the Indian scene and the appearance at the court of European miniatures, themselves highly naturalistic, stimulated this character still further. The result was the sudden rise in India, between 1570 and 1605, of a huge new school of painting, exquisitely representational in manner and committed to a new kind of Indian naturalism. Such a school, the creation of an alien Muslim dynasty, would at first sight seem unlikely to produce illustrations of Hindu religion. Its main function was to illustrate works of literature, science and contemporary history-a function which resulted in such grandiose productions as the Akbarnama or Annals of Akbar, now preserved in the Victoria and Albert Museum.[74] None the less there are two ways in which Mughal painting, as developed under Akbar, contributed to the Krishna story. Akbar, although a Muslim by birth, was keenly interested in all religions and in his dealings with the Rajputs had shown himself markedly tolerant. He desired to minimise the hatred of M

awkward crudity in which the idioms of Akbar's school of artists were consciously aped.[77] The manuscripts in question are at Bikaner and it is possible that one or two inferior Mughal artists, deprived of work at the central court, travelled out to this northerly Rajput state, daring the desert, and there produced these vapid works. It is likely that in the early years of the seventeenth century, many areas of India possessed no artists whatsoever and if a Hindu ruler was to copy Mughal fashion, the only artists available to him might be those of an inferior rank. And although exact data are wanting, such circumstances may well explain another document of Krishna, the first illustrated version of Keshav Das's Rasika Priya.[78] As we have seen, this poem was composed at Orchha in Bundelkhand in 1591, at a time when both poet and court were in close as

rant understanding gave way to a vicious proselytism and it was only in remote centres such as Bikaner that later Mughal artists exercised their style on Krishna themes. It is significant that at Bikaner their leader was a Muslim, Ruknuddin, and that his chief work was a series of pictures illustrating the Rasika Priya.[79] His figures have a shall

ose faithful adhesion to Rajput standards found exhilarating compensations in Krishna's role as lover. Keshav Das's Rasika Priya achieved the greatest popularity at his court-its blend of reverent devotion and ecstatic passion fulfilling some of the deepest Rajput needs. Between the years 1645 and 1660 there accordingly occurred a systematic production not only of pictures illustrating this great poetic text but of the various books in the Bhagavata Purana most closely connected with Krishna's career. Krishna is shown as a Rajput princeling dressed in fashionable garb, threading his way among the cowgirls, pursuing his amorous inclinations and practising with artless guile the seductive graces of a courtly lover. Each picture has a passionate intensity-its rich browns and reds, greens and blues endowing its characters with glowing fervour, while Krishna and the cowgirls, with their sharp robust forms and great intent eyes, display a brusque vitality and an eager

he divine lover. Although one copy of the Rasika Priya and one of the Bhagavata Purana were executed at both these centres, their chief subjects were the ragas and raginis (the thirty-six modes of Indian music) nayakas and nayikas (the ideal lovers) and barahmasas (the twelve months) while in the case of Malwa, there was the added theme of Sanskrit love-poetry. Krishna the god was rarely celebrated and it was rather as 'the best of lovers' that he was sometimes introduced into pictures. In a Bundi series depicting the twelve months, courtly lovers are shown sitting in a balcony watching a series of rustic incidents proceeding below. The lover, however, is not an ordinary prince but Krishna himself, his blue skin and royal halo leaving no possible doubt as to his real identity.[83] Similarly in paintings illustrating the character and personality of musical modes, Krishna was often introduced as the perfect embodiment of passionate loving. None of the poems accompanying the modes make any allusion to him. Indeed, their prime purpose is to woo the presiding genius of the melody and suggest the visual scene most likely to evoke its spirit. The musical mode, Bhairava Raga, for example, was actually associated with Siva, yet because the character of the music suggested furious passion the central figure of the lover dallying with a lady was depicted as Krishna.[84] In Hindola Raga, a mode connected with swinging, a similar result ensued. Swinging in Indian sentiment was normally associated with the rains and these in turn evoked 'memory and desire.' The ch

between Ajmer and Jaipur, a series of intensely poetic paintings were produced between the years 1750 and 1760-the prime stimulus being the delight of Raja Sawant Singh in Krishna's romance.[87] Born in 1699, Sawant Singh had ascended the throne in 1748 and given all his time to three activities, the rapturous re-living of Krishna's romance with Radha, the composition of ecstatic poems and the daily worship of Krishna as lover god. So great was his devotion that in 1757 he abandoned the throne and taking with him his favourite mai

ove's enc

the Firmamen

Bride and

can gr

ntains never

ght is eve

is which constantly characterized his work, his greatest achievement being the creation of a local manner for portraying Radha and Krishna.[89] Radha was endowed with great arched eyebrows and long eyes-the end of the eye being tilted so as to join the

cians.[91] Against a pale green background, the figures, dressed in greenish yellow, pale greyish blue and the purest white, posture with calm assured grace, while the pure tones and exquisite line-work invest the scene with gay and luminous clarity. We do not know the circumstances in whic

hat Rajput rulers in the Punjab Hills were often connected by marriage with Rajput families in Rajasthan and it is therefore possible that during a visit to Udaipur, Raja Kirpal Pal recruited his atelier. Udaipur painting, however, can hardly have been the only source for even in its earliest examples Basohli painting has a smooth polish, a savage sophistication and a command of shading which suggests the influence of the Mughal style of Delhi. We must assume, in fact, a series of influences determined to a great extent by Raja Kirpal Pal's political contacts, his private journeys and individual taste, but perhaps above all by an urge to express his feelings for Krishna in a novel and personal manner. The result is not only a new style but a special choice of subject-matter. The Rasika Priya and the Bhagavata Purana, the texts so greatly favoured at Udaipur, were discarded and in their place Basohli artists produced a series of isolated scenes from Krishna's life-the child Krishna stealing butter,[94] Krishna the gallant robbing the cowgirls or exacting toll, Krishna extinguishing the forest-fire,[95] Krishna the

e him in the act of delicately disengaging a lady's dress and gazing at

r a beauti

fair panel

bracelet o

necklace on

nce of the fawn-eye

sens the kno

e-stead, with n

rls. He is now shown approaching a formal pavilion, set in a lonely field. Inside the pavilion is the lovely object of his a

wolle

ther sham

fear o

ch a tende

o his hands

amorous intentions being shown by the orange, a conventional symbol for the breasts, poised lightly in his hand. As the lady turns to greet him, she puts a dot in

what are

en orange i

the moon

ing

bright

n the hou

cing a witty joking element into the scene and thus p

was now a gradual rounding of faces and figures, leading to a slight softening of the former brusque vigour. Devotion to Krishna does not seem to have bulked quite so largely in the minds of later Basohli rulers, although the cult itself may well have

e. In about this year, artists from Guler migrated to the distant Garhwal, a large and straggling state at the far south of the Punjab Hills, taking with them a style of exquisite naturalism which had gradually reached maturity under the Guler ruler, Raja Govardhan Singh.[103] During his reign, a family of Kashmiri Brahmans skilled in the Mughal technique had joined his court and had there absorbed a new romantic outlook. On at least three occasions they had illustrated scenes from the Bhagavata Purana-

es the pictures their special Garhwal quality. The play of water evokes a melody of line and the result is a sense of upsurging joy. A similar religious exaltation marks other pictures by this master. At some time he appears to have been commissioned to illustrate the tale of Sudama the poor Brahman whose tattered hovel is changed by Krishna into a golden palace. He was evidently assisted by a weaker painter but in the pictures which are clearly his own work, the same quality of lyrical incantation appears. As Sudama journeys to Dwarka Krishna's golden city, his heart swoons with adoration, the hills, trees and ocean appear to dance about him and once again, the linear music of the composition engenders a feeling of supreme ecstasy.[109] We do not know which member of the Garhwal court acted as his patron-it is even possible that it was not the ruler h

d. He was shown as a baby crying for the moon, being washed by his foster-mother, Yasoda, or mischievously breaking pitchers full of curds. He would be painted strolling with the cowherds, playing on his flute, or bringing the cattle home at evening. But the main theme to which the artists constantly returned was his main cowgirl love. Radha would be shown standing with Krishna in the forest, gazing trustfully into his eyes, seeking shelter with him from the rain or sitting with him by a stream.[112] Sometimes she and the cowgirls were shown celebrating the spring festival of Holi, Krishna syringing them with tinted water while they themselves strove to return his onslaughts by throwing red powder.[113] Often the scene would shift from the forest to the village, and Krishna would then be shown gazing at Radha as she dried herself after bathing or squatted in a cour

he two most famous sets of illustrations executed in Kangra. The subject was the tenth book of the Bhagavata Purana and the scenes illustrated ranged from Krishna's birth and adventures with demons to his frolics with the cowgirls and final slaughter of Kansa. Purkhu's style-if Purkhu is indeed the master responsible-is remarkable for its luminous cla

ating part of Bihari's Sat Sai-the seven-hundred poems in which he extolled Krishna's love-making.[118] The other is yet another version of the Gita Govinda where Krishna is shown consorting with the cowgirls in blissful abandon.[119] In both these series, the inherent loveliness of Radha and the cowgirls is expressed by supple flowing line, a flair for natural posture and the

wal master was fascinated by the swirl of curling water, the Kangra artist in question delighted in the blonde pallor of the Indian moon.[121] Each incident in the text is rendered as if in moonlight-a full moon riding in the sky, its

nd Vidyapati being all natives of this part of India. Hymns to Krishna were sung in the villages and as part of this fervid adhesion, local manuscripts of the Bhagavata Purana and the Gita Govinda were often produced. Such manuscripts were normally not illustrated but were preserved between wooden covers, on which scenes of Krishna dancing with the cowgirls or with male devotees were painted.[123] Book covers of this kind were produced in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and the resulting pictures have something of the savage elation associated with the Basohli style and its derivatives. During the nineteenth century, painted book-covers ceased to be produced but three other kinds of painting continued to celebrate the Krishna theme. Frescoes of Hindu gods and goddesses including Krishna were often executed on the mud walls of village houses in Mithila, the birthplace of the poet Vidyapati, and the style of painting with its brilliant colours and brusque distortions testified to the great excitement still engendered by Krishna's name.[124] At Kalighat near Calcu

would be unrealistic to suggest that these pictures spring from a lively sense of Krishna as God-Jamini Roy has, in fact, resorted to themes of Christ with equal, if not greater, frequency but has shown no signs of becoming a Christian. It is rather that in painting these pictures, he has treated Krishna as a symbol of rural vitality, a figure whose boisterous career am

ht in feminine form and sensuous rapture. To Keyt such a delight is a vital component of adult minds and in the romance of Radha and Krishna he found a subject subtly expressive of his own most intimate beliefs. His paintings and line-drawings of Radha, Krishna and the cowgirls-at once modern yet vitally Indian in spirit-have the same qualities as those in the Gita Govinda.[128] Radha and Krishna are shown luxuriating in each other's elegance, a certain

6

, 8, 9, 11, 13

6

nting,' Journal of the Indian Society of O

6

aja of Jaipur, P

6

of Jodhpur, Pustakap

7

ctions of 2 and 3, see Karl Khandalavala, 'Leaves fr

7

aintings from Western India (A

7

g. 14; The Art of India an

7

s 23

7

ar's Religious Thought reflected in Mo

7

ials, The Razm Namah; see

7

dia and Pakis

7

hitecture of Bikaner Stat

7

Catalogue, VI, Mughal

7

cit., Figs.

8

f Indian Miniatures from the Bikaner Pa

8

e also Archer, India

8

dia and Pakis

8

te

8

te

8

te

8

la Bhawan

8

sure: the Kishangarh Paintings',

8

d.,

8

te

9

my, Indian Drawings (London, 1912), Vol. II, Plat

9

te

9

eces of Rajput Pa

9

nd 31. The Art of India an

9

at

9

te

9

inting in the Pun

9

oston Catalogue, V, Rajpu

9

te

9

on Catalogue, V, R

1

d.,

1

d.,

1

he Art of India and

1

rhwal Pain

1

op. cit.,

1

inting in the Pun

1

in Indian Pai

1

19, 20

1

jput Painting, P

1

hwal Painti

1

7, 12

1

angra Pai

1

, Pla

1

, Pla

1

, Pla

1

, 355. Purkhu must now, most probably, be connected with the first of the two Kangra

1

5, 6, 8, 9

1

nd 2; also p. 4 where the second of

1

a, op. cit., P

1

te

1

p. cit.,

1

es 1

1

te

1

dia and Pakis

1

hil Painting,' Mar

1

f Calcutta (London, 1953), Plat

1

t of India, (Calcu

1

Journal of the Indian Society of Or

1

k, see Martin Russell, George K

O

1,

n kinds of Indian expression, see my Indi

2,

t to the paler Aryans. None of the texts, however, appears to corroborate this theory. So far as 'blue' and 'mauve' are concerned, 'blue' is the colour of Vishnu and characterizes most of his incarnations. As the colour of the sky, it is appropriate to a deity who was originally associated with the sun-the sun with its life-giving rays according well with Vishnu's role as loving protector. 'Blue' is also supposed to be the colour of the ocean on which Vishnu is said to recline at the commencement of each age. In view of the variatio

3,

ad with Krishna's precepts in the Gita, see Mazumdar, The Age of Imper

4,

asham, op. cit., 39)-the epic itself is generally recognized as being a product of many centuries of compilation. The portions relating to Krishna the hero may well date from the third century B.C. T

5,

release from living but have reached the important transitional level of 'the heaven of

6,

narddana (the most worshipful), Damodara ('bound with a rope,' referring to the incident (p. 32) when having been tied by Yasoda to a mortar, Krishna uproots the two trees), Murari ('foe of Mura, the arch demon' p. 58) or in phrases such as 'queller of Kaliya the snake,' 'destroyer of Kesi, the demon horse,' 'slayer of Madhu-the demon who sprang from the ear of Vishnu and was killed by him.

26, 34, 4

if given, not so vividly expressed. The details and passages in question are page 27 concerning the white and black hairs of Vishnu, page 34-the lyrical description of Krishna's life in the forest, page 46-A

8,

ill all male infants and Herod's slaughter

9,

his-yet, by a merciful ignorance, he sometimes forgets. Indeed, it is Krishna who makes him forget, since no ordinary man could bear the strain of constant companionship with God. After the vision of Krishna's divine aspect, Arjuna is appalled by the realization that he has been treating t

10, p

god who ambled gently about the world, was often rather absent-minded, sometimes behaved as

12, p

nd Guler paintings (Archer, Indian Paint

12, p

were defended by 'nooses, constructed by the demon Mura (Naraka's ally), the edges of which were as sharp as razors.' Mura had seven tho

13, p

he drunken brawl leading to a general slaughter, of the hero slain by an arrow piercing his one vulnerable spot, and of the great city engulfed by the sea, are well-known in European epic literatu

l cause; and, if it is argued that the Yadavas must first be destroyed in order to render Krishna's withdrawal from the world complete, we must then assume that the Yadavas are in some mysterio

14, p

tents listed in the Mahabharata but not in

15, p

ulpture,' Marg, Vol. II, No. i, 88. For a Western expression of this point o

s that outside the commercial civilizations of the western world, love and marriage take their place as types of divine union and everywhere love and marriage are the subject matter, the theme of religious writers, singers, painters and sculptors. It is true that love is the theme of western writers also but with them the idea of love is entirely free from divine s

16, p

-girls, disguising or rather denying her adultery and finally presenting her as Krishna's eternal consort. For this purpose, three hypotheses were adopted. Radha was throughout assumed to be Krishna's spouse and it is only on account of a curse that she takes human form as a cowgirl and comes to live in Brindaban. Radha herself does not marry Ayana the cowherd-his wedding being only with her shadow. Thirdly, Krishna comes to Brindaban and goes through a

17, p

seems to have arisen in feudal France and Germany where local

hich had answered would answer no longer, the husband's object was to get rid of the lady as quickly as possible. Marriages were frequently dissolved. The same woman who was the lady and 'the dearest dread' of her vassals was often little better than a piece of property to her husband. He was master in his own house. So far from being a natural channel for the new kind of love, marriage

18, p

lf being presented as a highly sensitive and symbolic setting for the behaviour of lovers. The following p

assed over their heads and the weather which came in its wake seemed an effort on the part of Nature to match the state of hearts at Talbothays Dairy. The air of the place, so fresh in the spring and early summer, was stagnant and enervating now. Its heavy scents weighed upon them, and at mid-day the l

19, p

n the nineteenth century it was translated into Victorian verse by Sir Edwin Arnold. The present translation from which all the extracts are taken is by George Keyt, the f

20, p

(Masterpieces of Rajput Painting, 29, 58); poems 3

21, p

Rasika Priya and their literal translati

22, p

ot Radha and Krishna but palace ladies impersonating them, is Dr. Joan van Loh

23, p

of similar treatises by other Sanskrit authors, see V. Ragh

IOGR

of Himachal Paintings,' Roopa

don, 1952). Kangra Painting (London, 1952). Garhwal Pa

Wonder that was In

): Le Bhagavata Pur

16. Rajput Painting (Oxford, 1916). Catalogue of the Indian Collections in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston: Part V,

jput Painting (Calcutta, 1926). R

8). 'Painting,' The Art of India and P

Vernacular Literature of

the Jeypore Exhibition. IV,

s.): The Prem Saga

A, S.(trans.): The Song of God

a or Songs of Jayadeva,' Asiati

ri Jayadeva's Gita G

n Love (London, 1927-30). (trans.)

the Indian People, I, The Vedic Age (London, 19

g (Bombay, 1926). Gujarati Painting in

(New Delhi, 1954). The Krishna Legend

): The Mahabharat

engali Language and Lit

he Brahma Vaivarta Pu

a Peinture Indien

of Indian Literature (Ca

s.): The Vishnu Pu

N

116, pl.

er of the g

ial Unity, T

od of f

la, V.

gar, De

Rajasth

peror, 97-99, 11

ama, 9

the Yadavas, 45-4

of Love

orfe

anskrit

Pradyumna and gran

Mildre

101, 105, 107-1

aupadi, husband of Krishna's sister, S

Sir Ed

stan, The, 96, 98, 10

Researc

am,

, Mughal

Radha, brother o

owell,

, crane

i, poem by Bilv

31, 34-36, 44-48, 50-56, 61-64, 66, 67

of the und

poetess of K

of the twelve m

tist, pls. 1, 2 (c

., 9, 19, 1

05, 107, 111, pls. 18 (commen

r Chester,

a, 15-17, 24

74, 85, 85, 99, 101, 105, 107,

votion to

of Rasamanjari, 9, 1

hawan, Banara

Sastra, Sanskr

i, Sanskri

a, Deben, 9

of the five Pan

poet, 84,

r, Dec

ajasthan,

jab Hills, 10

gala, po

ur of Kris

ers, Ben

, 33, 34, 58, 59,

varta Pura

38, 39, 62, 63, 67, 68

of,

around Mathu

aranya

kula, 33, 35, 45, 46, 49,

Museum

gh,

hism

dem

khand,

ajasthan

uf, E

ta, 11

ell,

n, 57

njab Hills

engali poet,

Gallery, East

Upanishad,

wrestle

d, Mew

, 14,

of cowgirls', 37,

9, 104-106, 108, 120,

6, 49, 50, 52, 53, 58, 60-62, 66, 70-82, 85

andonment of

ife with, 4

eudonym for

8, 41, 43, 46, 74,

lou,

ioteer to Kr

30, 33-36, 44, 45, 54, 5

of, 1

r brother of K

na, 17, 27, 28, 44, 46,

rth Mother, 28, 4

B.,

ma,

, ass d

on of Kuru, father of

contes

son, E

f Panchal, common wife of th

ika, d

urava and son of Dhrit

rn India, 21, 22, 54-59, 61-64, 66

27, 49,

rn Lo

reco

36, 37, 41, 61, 78,

res, 35,

, feud

ds, Krishna's, 31

, Maha

O.C., 104

sage,

jab Hills, 1

inting, 10

y, feu

ngirasa

Eric

yadeva, 9, 11, 76-84, 94-96, 98,

ole of,

H., 9

t near Mathura,

ingh, Raja

t of the hills, 39,

as, poet

eudonym for

asil, 1

n, Sir

ewal

ng in the Fifte

ills, 107-109,

donym for

x to Mahabharata e

, T.H.,

od,

estiva

ngs,

er of Krishn

h, ruler of

brary, London,

eum, Calcu

ainting,

in the Punjab

of the clouds, 18, 24, 39, 40,

n, J

Christopher

nstrel artists

98, 103, 104, pls. 1

r, Rajas

queen of Krish

unjab Hi

pseudonym

1

an,

slayer of Krishna

n king of Magadh

astern Ind

it poet, 76, 77,

Rajasthan

r William

37, 41, 43, 47, 48, 61,

Sanskrit

een of Krishn

d snake, 35, 42, 46, 108,

yava

, Jain Scr

of passi

, mother o

ills, 93, 108-11

nting, 109

lley Pain

Krishna, 9,

demon Drumalika, 26-29, 31, 33, 43-50, 54, 55, 57, 62, 11

ava killed by Arjun

ra, rivals of the Pandavas (vide Maha

, Anglo-

, 91, 99, 100, 105,

eudonym for

e demon, 4

of the Gita Govinda, 9, 76-83, 112,

rl, 95, 96, pls.

97, pl.

Basohli, 104, 105, 1

Rajasthan,

Rajasth

Das, p

ha king, pl.

hback girl,

jab Hills

Das, p

ulpu

ather of R

Pandavas, sister of Vasudeva (Kris

tor of the Pandava

attle-field of

a artist, 110,

ther of Nal

tate Muse

odern Ce

r, F

, C.S

. Joan van,

ngs of

State Mus

ce, Lo

, dem

a, 26,

1, 17, 19-25,

founder of

aba

ral India,

ss, patron of painting

Mewar a

rt journal, 95

Rajput Paintin

, E. Po

6, 29, 30, 38, 39, 44-55, 61, 74,

ar, M.

, 11

e, M.A.,

107, 110, 121,

ajasthan

i, poet

ila,

Literature of Hi

pls. 3, 8, 1

y dem

jee, A

aster of the

Chand

ughal art

udonym for

ra), arch d

artists

sion

, 93,

s, 97

, wrest

tist, pls. 3 (comm

er of Kuvar

her of Krishna, 27-32, 35-41, 44-53

a, sa

on son of E

n, Mewar

ayakas, 90, 9

al Museum, pls. 5

estam

, Kishangar

the,

njab Hills

an,

tral India,

, pls. 4, 10, 18 (comment)

li, 1

er, 9

, 107, 1

1, 102, p

i, 97,

, pl. 1

mis

omment), 7, 8 (comment), 12,

man

ati,

, 121, pls. 3 (comme

lia

96, pl. 2

r, 10

, 96, p

at, 11

17, 121, pls. 3, 5, 6,

h, 103, 1

hil,

, 101, 10

03, 105, 107, 121, p

n, p

sia

0, 101, 103-105, p

n, 94-96, pl.

Rajastha

kingdom

ls of the Kauravas (vide Mahabhara

of Kuru, father

ith the Axe,' incar

eat-grandson

nd Das,

consort o

wife of Kin

ar Dwarka, 68, 94

a, Swami, 15

ishna's son b

ty of the demon,

human form, 35, p

h, Raja of

Museum, Bombay

, 13, 93, 98, 1

st, 109, 110, pls.

ogress

16, 72-90, 96, 98, 103-105, 109-111, 1

of Indian music, 84, 10

nd Ragi

van,

, 13, 95,

maraswamy), 104, 108

ay)

Gopa

rnation of

,

yana

ingh, ruler

h, ruler of M

wa, M.

atise by Bhanu Datta, 9,

shav Das (comment), 11, 90-92, 99-

idgement of the Mahab

, theory

ife of Ba

eva, mother of Balarama

Indian art

Jamin

P.C

her of Rukm

ueen, 15, 55, 56, 59, 60,

, Bikaner

ian art jo

ll, M

ura, d

a, yaksha

Raja of Kang

s by Bihari L

ther of Satya

ueen of Krishna

, Raja of Ki

paintin

D.C

R.N

ternity, a part of

, Mughal e

n, Mewar a

l, Amri

raz

ab Hills, pl

ni, rival of Krishna, 22, 5

Sacheve

7, 44, 58, 59,

r, Garh

of the Cr

kine,

Indian Pa

ter of Krishn

ly friend of Krishna

Celestial d

poet, 84,

cow of

Hindi po

sun g

Rabindra

f Toll,

nt Offe

e D'Urberv

, whirlwin

Mewar, 100, 101, 103-

d of Krishn

f Mathura, 26, 4

, snake

isha

er of demon

heaven of V

charya,

incarnation

on with a tho

of water,

na, husband of Devaki, brother of Kunti,

a, cow d

39, 46,

Age, T

bert Museum, 98

poet, 84,

0, 45-47, 49, 56-58, 67, 69, 70

25, 116, 117,

divine archi

u, father

kinsmen of

a, wolf

sz, E

.H.B., pl.

H.H.,

nitz,

India, The, 19

's conflict with,

men, 21, 26, 27, 45, 49-57, 61, 62, 54,

r-mother of Krishna, 27-33,

, 19

the Pandavas, husband o

PL

AT

th of B

the Persian ab

e Razmnama (or

Bas

bar period

the Maharaja o

rsian. 'Having observed the fanatical hatred prevailing between Hindus and Muslims,' writes his biographer, Abul Fazl, 'and convinced that it arose only from their mutual ignorance, the enlightened monarch wished to dispel the same by render

and 1600. Certain details-the drapery with its shaded folds, the steeples rising in the distance-are modelled on the European Renaissance pictures which by 1580 had already reached the

to the sea and has there yielded up his spirit. Sesha, the great serpent, who is part of Vishnu himself, is now issuing from the body Balarama having

AT

ath of

the Persian ab

e Razmuama (or

Muk

bar period

the Maharaja o

ion and is shot in the sole of his right foot by Jara, a Bhil hunter-the arrow which kil

In front of Krishna stand four awe-struck figures, representing the celestial sages and devotees of Vishnu who have come to attend his passing. In the sky four gods look down. To the right is Siva. Then, a little to the left, is four-he

e of Basawan (Plate 1) and il

AT

hter of a

to the Bhag

unjab Hil

collecti

The artist chiefly responsible was a certain Nainsukh who had arrived at the State of Guler in about 1740. His way of painting had marked affinities with that of Basawan (Plate 1) and represents a blend of early Mughal naturalism with later Hindu sentiment. The style founded by him influenced members of his own family, including his n

Krishna's mother, nurses the baby girl whom her husband, Vasudeva, has substituted for the infant Krishna. Kansa is wresting the baby from her in order

AT

steali

n incident from t

unjab Hill

a collect

Krishna pilfering butter. As Yasoda, Krishna's foster-mother, goes inside the house, Krishna and the cowherd children stage an impudent raid. A cowherd boy mounts a wooden mortar and then, balanced on his shoulders, the young Krishna helps

ls, towards the end of the seventeenth century. The jagged form of Yasoda, cut in two by the lintel of the doorway, the stabbing lines of the c

AT

ing of t

to the Bhag

unjab Hil

useum,

as Plate 3, here attributed

arama, Krishna's half-brother, is excitedly pointing out that Krishna is safe. In the foreground, emerging from the earth are two crowned figures-Nala and Kuvara, the sons of the yaksha king, Kubera, who, as a consequence o

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d to Br

to the Bhag

unjab Hil

Museum,

part of the series

ns-bundles of clothes, spinning-wheels, baskets of grain and pitchers-are being taken with them and mounted with Yasoda on a second cart go the children, Balarama and Krishna. Wit

AT

na mi

to the Bhag

unjab Hill

a collectio

calf by tugging at its string while the cow licks its restive offspring with tender care. Other details-the tree clasped by a flowering creeper, the peacock perched in its branches-sugges

st great phase of Garhwal painting (c. 1770-1804) w

AT

ng of the

to the Bhag

unjab Hil

collecti

example of Kangra paintin

rcy-one of them holding out bunches of lotus flowers, the others folding their hands or stretching out their arms in mute entreaty. The river is once again depicted a

ed as vacating the water and meeting its end on dry land, other pictures, notably those from Gar

1

Rajput Painting (Oxford, 191

AT

lling the D

to the Bhag

unjab Hil

Museum,

the Kangra series, he

a the left. Concealed as a cowherd in Krishna's party, the demon Pralamba awaits an opportunity of killing Balarama. The second stage, in the right-hand bottom corner, shows Balarama's party giving the other side 'pick-a-backs,' after having been vanquished in a game of guessing flowers and fruit. The third stage is reached in

s Krishna's side that lost and since Pralamba was among the defeated, he was in a position to take Balarama for a ride. It is likely, however, that in view of the other episode in the Pu

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orest

n incident from t

unjab Hill

avala collec

e in its earliest and greatest phase. Surrounded by a ring of fire and with cowherd boys and cattle stupefied by smoke, Krishna is putting ou

when Nanda, Yasoda and other cowherds and cowgirls were also present and the second, following Balarama's encounter with the demon Pralamba (Plate 10), when only

y glowing picture, see Karl Khandalavala, Indian

AT

ing of th

to the Bhag

unjab Hil

collecti

everence and delicacy forbidding too unabashed a portrayal of the feminine physique. The present picture with it

e surprised by Krishna who takes their clothes up into a tree. When they beg him to return them, he insists that each should freely expose herself before him,

AT

g of Mount

n incident from t

unjab Hill

Museum,

Garhwal painting and its u

erneath. The occasion is Krishna's slight to Indra, king of the gods and lord of the clouds, whose worship he ha

he clouds to fall in torrents. Lightning flickers wildly and on Govardhana itself, the torn and sh

AT

Favourite after

to the Bhag

unjab Hil

collecti

tury-one, responsible for the present picture and Plates 14 and 15, being still unknown. He is here refe

rticularly favoured, her actual name being suppressed. The moment is some time after they have left the circular dance and before their sudden separation. Krishna, whose hand rests on the girl's shoulder, i

AT

Favourit

to the Bhag

unjab Hil

Museum,

Plates 13 and 15 by 'the

an adoring lover, the request is not unreasonable. Made to God, it implies an excess of pride. Despite their impassione

ard as if to join the girl in her agonized advances while around her rise the

AT

st for

to the Bhag

unjab Hil

collecti

of the moonlight'

ey also have been deserted when Krishna left the dance taking his favourite with him. In the picture, Radha holds her head in anguish while to the right the cowgirls look at h

AT

the final

to the Bhag

unjab Hil

collecti

, 5, 6, 8, 9 and 11, here attrib

le-light, a cowherd, wearing a dark cloak to keep off the night air, is attending to the bullocks while three cowherd boys, worn out by the day's march, rest on string-beds under the night sky. In the background,

AT

of the

to the Bhag

unjab Hil

atty Libra

late 16, but perhaps f

, Krishna killing his opponent outright. In the picture Balarama is about to kill the other wrestler and Krishna, holding an elephant tusk under his arm, looks at the king with calm defiance. The king's end is now in

AT

pe of

to the Bhag

Punjab Hil

Museum

he theme-shows Rukmini and her maids worshipping at the shrine to Devi, the earth mother, on the morning of her wedding. Her proposed husband is Sisupala and already he and his party have arrived to claim her hand. In despair Rukmini has apprised Krishna of her fate but

the Punjab Plains, developed at Bilaspur. This small Rajput State adjoined Guler in the Punjab Hi

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oming the Br

Sudama episode in

unjab Hill

atty Libra

eceptor and warmly welcomes him to his princely palace. The picture shows Sudama in rags seated on a stool while Krishna washes his feet and hails h

devotion-is actually in close accord with Krishna's life among the cowherds. For this reason, it probably continued to excite interest long after other aspec

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nnings o

on to the

unjab Hill

Museum,

adeva, written at the end of the twelfth century. The poem recounts Radha's anguish at

uds, the wind has risen and already the flower-studded branches are swaying and bending in the breeze. Krishna is still a young boy and Radha a girl a few years older. As Radha takes him home, they loiter by the river, passion suddenly flares and they fall into each other's arms. In this way, the verse declares, the

the same quality of rhythmical exaltation as Plates 19 and 35, a

AT

laying on

on to the

unjab Hil

a collect

anguish, a friend describ

herdsman sings as Krish

himself with charmin

, conversing with the friend while, to the right, K

he power of Kangra painters to imbue with innocent delicacy the most intensely emotional of situations. It was t

AT

cing with t

on to the

Rajastha

a collect

e-playing, Radha's friend gives h

oks with ardour on K

the Jumna, when Krishna

draw him back, so eager

er woman, lost with hi

our of bangles on hands that clap. He embraces one woman

himself with charming

the slack looseness of treatment befitting the freedom of conduct adumbrated by the verse. The large insects hovering in the branches are the black bees of Indian love-poetry whose quest for flowers was regarded as symb

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ated with

on to the

astern Ind

Wales Muse

cing (Plates 21 and 22), Kr

nd dark like rows of clum

d, who embrace at pleas

autiful Krishna plays

, with love for all, brin

re that Radh

ng Krishna protect you, wh

e made as if singing a

, excellent," ardent

air-browed herdgirls daz

ight, Radha and the friend are approaching through the trees. The style with its sharp curves and luxur

1

by Karl Khandalavala, 'A Gita Govinda Series in the Prince of Wales

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glecte

on to the

astern Ind

Wales Muse

ms the forest, searching for the lovely Radha but finding her nowhere. As he pu

ormented by the heat

so loved, she thi

body; secluded sh

perhaps, surv

ment when weary sh

she could not endure,

ng separation, O h

ry branch of the mang

suggesting by their rank luxuriance the upward surge of spring while cranes, slowly wing

AT

na re

on to the

unjab Hill

ionately dallying with another cowgirl and only in the morning tenders his submission. By this time, Radha's mood

sist from uttering t

ed, she who can dispel y

dha, 'cruel to one who loves you, unbending to one who bows, angry with o

ming a courtly setting more appropriate for Radha's exquisite physique. The suavely curving linear rhythm, characteris

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last

on to the

unjab Hill

Museum

onging and when he once again approaches her she showers on

aware that you are rea

th bells, shameless, a

vice and slowly approach

executed in Basohli in 1730 for a local princess, the lady Manaku. As in other Basohli paintings, trees are shown as small and summary symbols, the horizon is a streak of clouds and there is

AT

losin

on to the

unjab Hill

Chandigarh,

me series a

atisfied,' Radha and Krish

desired only her, on him wh

re was overwhelmed and who

his face made lovely through

h a pair of wagtails at p

of sweat in the effort of her

a shower of tears wh

to the ends of her eyes and

r friends left the bower, scratchin

her loved one, lovely with lo

of that deer-ey

heek while friends of Radha gossip in the courtyard. As in Plate 25, the artist has preferred a house to

AT

awaiti

the Rasika Pri

ajasthan

Museum,

ms appearing at the top of the picture and the subjects being illustrated beneath. The present picture treats Radha as the nayika or ideal mistress and shows her about to visit Krishna, She is, at first, seated on a bed but a little later, is leaning against a pillar as a maid or friend induces her to descend. In the left-hand bottom c

AT

Krishna

to the Sursag

Rajasthan

a collectio

to a Hindi poem analysing Kri

Above them, two girls are watching peacocks-the strained advances of the birds and the

geometrical compositions and brilliant colouring was admi

AT

er appr

the Rasamanjar

unjab Hill

ert Museum, Lond

xcited a particular raja's interest and resulted in the production at Basohli of a vividly illustrated text. The original poem discusses the conventions of ordinary lovers. Un

its within, a pair of lotus-leaves protecting her nude bust, her hair falling in strands across her thighs.

ich a lover, denied early access, mi

w rain-cloud has appeared-mounts to your neck. My eye, too, takes wing, s

1

on R.H.B.

subtle twist-the lotus-leaves themselves, rather than the lov

AT

inguishin

unjab Hill

la Bhawan

o the Rasamanjari of Bhanu Datta. The lover is once again Krishna and the girl most probably Radha. Kr

ing at the end of the seventeenth century-the girl's wide-flung legs an

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of Asarh (

Barahmasa (or Cy

ajasthan

Wales Muse

nown as Barahmasa (barah, twelve; masa, month) were sometimes illustrated-a princely lover and his lady being shown seated on a terrace with the sights and scenes a

kground two princes consult a hermit before leaving on their travels. The rainy season was associated in poetry with love in separation and for th

AT

d Krishn

the musical mo

winging

ddle Indi

d Albert Mu

place during the rains, the season of longing, its spirit was sometimes impersonated not by an ordinary prince but by Krishna himself. In the picture, peacocks, which were common symbols for the lover, are shown against a sto

e stage of its development. During the sixteenth century the Malwa style had played a decisive part in

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attended

the musical mo

d. Decca

d Albert Mu

lwood into a paste. Although the poem itself contains no mention of Krishna, it speaks of Bhairava-a form of Siva-as a raging lover, 'insensate in a whirlwind of desire.' On this account Krishna-identified by his blue skin-has been inser

ain modes with Krishna being carefully preserved. One of the finest series of raga and ragini pictures execu

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a Constable arresti

unjab Hill

Museum,

ist. 'I am a policeman of Raja Kansa, come to take you to gaol,' she says. The picture shows the cowgirls standing with their pitchers of

rs in later poetry as an instance of Radha and Krishna's mut

the same master

AT

meetin

a poem from the

unjab Hil

a collect

t him. As she stands, there ensues that idyllic 'meeting of eyes' which Indian sentiment regarded as one of the most electrifying experiences in romance. In the pictur

the Kangra artist, Kushala, to w

AT

's Lo

njab Hill

la Bhawan

gry with desire who formed the chief subject of romantic art. Pictures focussed on woman in all her varied

ssion burning in her heart-are strewn about the bed, while hands tightly clasped suggest her wild unhappy torment. The vas

eminine form, the picture is typical of Guler p

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shna returnin

njab Hill

useum,

igures wearing hooded cloaks hasten towards the village. Although keenly evocative of actual landscapes in the Punjab Hills-where palaces were usually set on rocky hill-tops with nearby villages clustering at their feet-the picture

f Sirmur, after its neighbour, Garhwal, had been overrun by Gurkhas in 1804. Garhwal artists probabl

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iumph

, Rajastha

a collectio

ads surrounded by haloes, the two lovers display their courtly charms. Krishna has now the mannered luxury of a high-born prince and Radha, no longer the simple cowgirl, is the very embodiment of ari

UR

ctoria and Albert Museum, Londo

s of the Jeypore Exhibi

ate Museum, Lucknow

heological Survey

. Victoria and Alb

ne, La Peint

Messrs. A.C. Coo

Prince of Wales Museum, Bom

f Indian Art,

y of Mr. M.S.

y of Mr. Gopi

, 21, 29, 32, 35-37.