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Source Description
With his vivid blue body adorned in sumptuous silks and every manner of fine jewelry, the Hindu god Krishna plays his flute, mesmerizing every being that surrounds him. Trees bear fruit and flower, birds gather to hear the divine music, and gopis—the cowherding women of Vrindavan, where Krishna lives—adore him by waving flywhisks and fans. Some of the gopis also carry vessels filled with food and drink, for offering pleasing refreshments to the lord is an important part of the loving service ("seva") that devotees provide. Along the bottom of the painting, residents of Vrindavan (both human and bovine) go about daily life near the banks of the Yamuna River, some stopping at shrines to Krishna, where they offer him praise. In the sky above, divine couples ride in heavenly chariots led by birds. Known as a "pichvai" (literally, “displayed at the back”), this cloth painting was made for a temple of the Pushtimarg sect to serve as a backdrop to a sculptural icon of Krishna, the focus of worship. Each Pushtimarg temple keeps several pichvais, since specific imagery is required for different festivals and periods of the ritual year.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
35537
label
Temple Hanging (Pichvai) Depicting Krishna with Gopis
core
obj
dtoType
painting
citationUrl
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
35537
sourceUrl
contentType
painting
stage
normalized
title
Temple Hanging (Pichvai) Depicting Krishna with Gopis
description
With his vivid blue body adorned in sumptuous silks and every manner of fine jewelry, the Hindu god Krishna plays his flute, mesmerizing every being that surrounds him. Trees bear fruit and flower, birds gather to hear the divine music, and gopis—the cowherding women of Vrindavan, where Krishna lives—adore him by waving flywhisks and fans. Some of the gopis also carry vessels filled with food and drink, for offering pleasing refreshments to the lord is an important part of the loving service ("seva") that devotees provide. Along the bottom of the painting, residents of Vrindavan (both human and bovine) go about daily life near the banks of the Yamuna River, some stopping at shrines to Krishna, where they offer him praise. In the sky above, divine couples ride in heavenly chariots led by birds. Known as a "pichvai" (literally, “displayed at the back”), this cloth painting was made for a temple of the Pushtimarg sect to serve as a backdrop to a sculptural icon of Krishna, the focus of worship. Each Pushtimarg temple keeps several pichvais, since specific imagery is required for different festivals and periods of the ritual year.
provenance
John and Berthe Ford, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 2001, by gift.
date
ca. 1800
citationUrl
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
pichvai
paintings
imageCount
1
pageCount
1
source
import
dimensions
units
cm
width
271
height
301
dimensionsRaw
H: 106 11/16 × W: 118 1/2 in. (271 × 301 cm)
Source extras
med
pigments, gold and silver on cotton, painted and stenciled
creator_ids
2191
collection_ids
INT
exhibition_ids
2071
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
5ac8454ec0c1821c