Krishna celebrates Holi
Northern India, Pahari kingdoms · c. 1770 · Cleveland Museum of Art
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During the festival of Holi, Hindus celebrate the coming of spring by playfully throwing and shooting colored water and powders at one another. Among all the cowherd boys with whom he grew up, Krishna, a Hindu god incarnated on earth, is the only one able to reach the heart of a gopi, or milkmaid, with a well-aimed plunger full of colors. Raucous with sound as well as color, some of the boys play the drum, flute, and horns; girls strum a vina (stringed instrument), play a flute, and blow a whistle. The painter has sprinkled color on the background to suggest colors thrown in the air.
The museum’s own description, in English. Licence: CC0
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Details
- Maker
- Northern India, Pahari kingdoms
- Date
- c. 1770
- Medium
- gum tempera, gold, and silver on paper
- Dimensions
- Page: 21 x 29.4 cm (8 1/4 x 11 9/16 in.); Image: 15.5 x 23.8 cm (6 1/8 x 9 3/8 in.)
- Place of origin
- Northern India
- Held by
- Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland · Not on view
- Credit line
- Purchase and partial gift from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection; Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund
Image: Cleveland Museum of Art, CC0