A PICHHWAI PANEL WITH KRISHNA'S RASLILA
Rajasthan, North-Western India, 20th century

Opaque pigments, ink, and white wash heightened with gold on cotton, the large vertical composition depicting the blue-skinned Hindu god Krishna dancing in a circle with his beloved Radha and the Gopis (female cowherds), the group performing a dance also known as raslila and described in Hindu scriptures like the Bhagavata Purana and the Gita Govinda as the most beautiful performance of soulful love and the only way to express pure loving devotion to Krishna, several Hindu gods including Indra and Brahma seated on their vahanas (vehicles) flying in the sky and observing the scene from above, professionally mounted on a stretcher, 152.5cm x 115cm.