Krishna Lifts Mount Govardhan, from a Bhagavata Purana

1686

Krishna Lifts Mount Govardhan, from a Bhagavata Purana, 1686. Central India, Madhya Pradesh, Malwa. Gum tempera on paper; page: 19.4 x 27.6 cm (7 5/8 x 10 7/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase and partial gift from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection; Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund 2018.134 After Krishna convinced the dwellers of the cowherd village in Braj to not give the annual offering to Indra, king of the gods, an enraged Indra flooded the village with heavy rainfall. Krishna, shown with four arms, lifted nearby Mount Govardhan, and the villagers took shelter underneath. The painting depicts a heavy torrent of rain, and in the upper left, Indra sits enthroned with two attendants and his white elephant mount. The “hundred-eyed” Indra wears the garments of a Mughal emperor, with his tunic tied under the right arm.