Cleveland Museum of Art

Cremation of the demon Putana, from a Krishna-Lila

Date

c. 1790

Medium

Gum tempera on paper

Culture

Northern India, Pahari kingdoms

Department

Indian and Southeast Asian Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

In the foreground the grotesque oversized corpse of Putana is being cut up with much difficulty by the men of Vraj, the cowherd village where the Hindu god Krishna lived in his infancy and youth. Her forearms and hands are already being conveyed to the massive pyre at the upper left. Krishna’s foster father Nanda, the elder of the village, has come in a bullock cart to survey the situation, putting his finger to his mouth in the gesture of astonishment. At the right, baby Krishna is being bathed as cowherd women look on in shock. Krishna, who was incarnated in order to rid India of a tyrannical king, vanquished a series of his assassins, including Putana. Putana had come to the cowherd village in the form of a beautiful nursemaid with secretly poisoned breasts. When she began to nurse Krishna, instead of being poisoned by her, Krishna sucked the very life out of her, at which point she resumed her true form. Although unfinished, this painting reveals the care the artist took with the drawing and shading of the figures. Lila means “divine play” in Sanskrit.

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