Adoration of young Krishna (c. 1720–25): Art, History and Details

Adoration of young Krishna (c. 1720–25) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

The painting shows Krishna being worshipped under a pipal tree by a group of Shaivite devotees, recognized by the horizontal marks on their foreheads. Krishna is clad in a yellow Mughal jama, or belted Central Asian tunic, instead of the wrapped Indian lower garment (dhoti) traditionally associated with Krishna. The tree has been decorated with garlands and scarves to attract auspicious and divine benevolence.

Object facts

• Title: Adoration of young Krishna
• Date: c. 1720–25
• Culture: Northern India, Pahari kingdoms
• Type: Painting
• Technique: gum tempera on paper
• Dimensions: Page: 29.2 x 21.6 cm (11 1/2 x 8 1/2 in.); Image: 23.6 x 16.6 cm (9 5/16 x 6 9/16 in.)
• Collection: Indian Art
• Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
• Accession number: 2018.97

A detail from the museum

Krishna is holding a rattle in his right hand.

Collection credit

Purchase and partial gift from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection; Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Griswold, William, Cameron Kitchin, Chase F. Robinson, Cleveland Museum of Art, Cincinnati Art Museum, and National Museum of Asian Art (Smithsonian Institution). Pahari Paintings: Art and Stories, edited by Sonya Rhie Mace, Sarang Sharma, and Vijay Sharma. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2026.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.