PLATE 11

The Stealing of the Clothes

Illustration to the Bhagavata Purana
Kangra, Punjab Hills, c. 1790
J.K.  Mody collection, Bombay

Despite the Indian delight in sensuous charm, the nude was only rarely depicted in Indian painting—­feelings of reverence and delicacy forbidding too unabashed a portrayal of the feminine physique.  The present picture with its band of nude girls is therefore an exception—­the facts of the Purana rendering necessary their frank inclusion.

The scene illustrated concerns the efforts of the cowgirls to win Krishna’s love.  Bathing naked in the river at dawn in order to rid themselves of sin, they are 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, arguing that only in this way can they convince him of their love.  In the picture, the girls are shyly advancing while Krishna looks down at them from the tree.

[Illustration]

PLATE 12

The Raising of Mount Govardhana

Illustration to an incident from the Bhagavata Purana
Garhwal, Punjab Hills, c. 1790
National Museum, New Delhi

With Plate 7, an example of Garhwal painting and its use of smoothly curving line.

Krishna is lifting Mount Govardhana on his little finger and Nanda, the cowherds and cowgirls are sheltering underneath.  The occasion is Krishna’s slight to Indra, king of the gods and lord of the clouds, whose worship he has persuaded the cowherds to abandon.  Incensed at Krishna’s action, Indra has retaliated by sending storms of rain.

In the picture, Indra, a tiny figure mounted on a white elephant careers across the sky, goading the clouds to fall in torrents.  Lightning flickers wildly and on Govardhana itself, the torn and shattered trees bespeak the gale’s havoc.  Below all is calm as the cowherds acclaim Krishna’s power.

[Illustration]

PLATE 13

Krishna with his Favourite after leaving the Dance

Illustration to the Bhagavala Purana
Kangra, Punjab Hills, c. 1790
J.K.  Mody collection, Bombay

Besides Purkhu, at least two other master-artists worked at Kangra towards the end of the eighteenth century—­one, responsible for the present picture and Plates 14 and 15, being still unknown.  He is here referred to as ‘the master of the moonlight’ on account of his special preoccupation with moonlight effects.

The present picture shows Krishna and a girl standing by an inlet of the River Jumna.  The girl is later to be identified as Radha but in the Bhagavata Purana she is merely referred to as one who has been particularly 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, is urging her forward but the girl is weary and begs him to carry her.  The incident illustrates one of the vicissitudes in Radha and Krishna’s romance and was later to be endowed with deep religious meaning.