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Krishna Lifting Mount Govardhan, from a Persian translation of the Bhagavata Purana, c. 1625
1700s
- Medium
- gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
- Classification
- Painting
- Dimensions
- Sheet: 32.3 x 24.1 cm (12 11/16 x 9 1/2 in.); Image: 23.5 x 18 cm (9 1/4 x 7 1/16 in.)
- Culture
- Southern India, Deccan
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art, Indian and Southeast Asian Art
- Credit line
- Gift of Eugene and Joan Savitt in memory of Dr. and Mrs. E.K. Zaworski, her grandparents
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed
View at the Cleveland Museum of Art
About this work
Indra, king of the gods and controller of rain and thunder, was furious when Krishna decided to eat his annual offerings. Perched on his white elephant, Indra sent storms to destroy Krishna and his cowherd community, but Krishna effortlessly raised the nearby Mount Govardhan like an umbrella, and everyone rejoiced in his protection. Krishna balances the mountain on one finger while fluting and taking refreshment (paan) from a milkmaid. Below the figure of four-armed Krishna, Indra is shown defeated, kneeling in acquiescence to Krishna’s superior power.
