Cleveland Museum of Art

Krishna celebrates Holi

Date

c. 1770

Medium

gum tempera, gold, and silver on paper

Culture

Northern India, Pahari kingdoms

Department

Indian and Southeast Asian Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

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.

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