1995.67: Indra Pays Homage to Krishna (painting, recto; text, verso), folio from a Bhagavata Purana series

Identification and Creation

Object Number

1995.67

Title

Indra Pays Homage to Krishna (painting, recto; text, verso), folio from a Bhagavata Purana series

Other Titles

Alternate Title: The Lustration of Krishna
Series/Book Title: The 'Dispersed' Bhagavata Purana Series; also known as the 'Palam' Bhagavata Purana or 'Sa Mitharam - Sa Nana' Bhagavata Purana.

Classification

Manuscripts

Work Type

manuscript folio

Date

c. 1520 - 1540

Places

Creation Place: South Asia, India, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi-Agra region

Culture

Indian

Persistent Link

https://hvrd.art/o/310595

Physical Descriptions

Medium

Opaque watercolor on paper

Dimensions

17.7 x 23 cm (6 15/16 x 9 1/16 in.)
framed: 38.42 x 48.58 x 2.22 cm (15 1/8 x 19 1/8 x 7/8 in.)

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift in gratitude to John Coolidge, Gift of Leslie Cheek, Jr., Anonymous Fund in memory of Henry Berg, Louise Haskell Daly, Alpheus Hyatt, Richard Norton Memorial Funds and through the generosity of Albert H. Gordon and Emily Rauh Pulitzer; formerly in the collection of Stuart Cary Welch, Jr.

Accession Year

1995

Object Number

1995.67

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Contact

am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

Permissions

The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request.

Descriptions

Description

Based on chapter twenty-seven of the tenth book of the Bhagavata Purana, this folio depicts Indra, the king of the gods, paying homage to Krishna. The blue-skinned Krishna towers over Indra, who joins his hands in veneration. Indra is also depicted in his conventional iconography, with many eyes on his body. Indra’s elephant, Airavata, anoints Krishna with the holy water of the Ganges. Divinities and musicians in the upper register, townsfolk in the middle, and cows on the left celebrate this significant occasion. Indra appears twice in the folio, capturing two separate moments in the narrative– one in which he recognizes Krishna as the avatar of Vishnu and joins his hands in veneration and another in which he kneels before him. The verses from the Bhagavata Purana corresponding to the scene are written on the reverse of the folio.

This painting belongs to the 'Dispersed' Bhagavata Purana series, produced in the early 16th century, possibly in Mathura. The series, possibly consisting of 360 such folios, is based on the tenth book of the Bhagavata Purana, which describes the story of Krishna, particularly his childhood and youth. This series was one of South Asia's earliest illustrated Bhagavata Purana manuscripts. Each illustration is also accompanied by the text corresponding to the image on the reverse, written in Sanskrit. Other folios from the same Bhagavata Purana series in the Harvard Art Museum’s collection are objects 1963.145, 1974.124, 1974.125, 1974.126, 1974.127, 1992.283, 1995.66, 1995.68. Caurapancasika-group style.

Text on Verso: Bhagavata Purana, Book Ten, Chapter 27, verse 1 - 13 (trails off in the end).

Publication History

• Francis G. Hutchins, Young Krishna, The Amarta Press (West Franklin, NH, 1980), page 67&122/figure 18

Exhibition History

• Indian Harvest: Part 2, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 02/17/1996 - 04/28/1996
• Rajasthani Miniatures: The Welch Collection at the Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Harvard University, The Drawing Center, New York, 04/16/1997 - 06/07/1997
• Re-View: Arts of India & the Islamic Lands, Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 04/26/2008 - 06/01/2013
• Re-View: S231 (Islamic rotation: 7) Company to Crown, Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 04/08/2011 - 10/15/2011
• A Colloquium in the Visual Arts, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 08/27/2022 - 12/30/2022

Verification Level