Krishna Lifting Mount Govardhan, from a Persian translation of the Bhagavata Purana, c. 1625 (1700s): Art, History and Details

Krishna Lifting Mount Govardhan, from a Persian translation of the Bhagavata Purana, c. 1625 (1700s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the 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.

Object facts

• Title: Krishna Lifting Mount Govardhan, from a Persian translation of the Bhagavata Purana, c. 1625
• Date: 1700s
• Culture: Southern India, Deccan
• Type: Painting
• Technique: gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
• 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.)
• Collection: Indian Art
• Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
• Accession number: 2006.203

A detail from the museum

This page is from a rare, illustrated Persian translation of a Hindu sacred text.

Collection credit

Gift of Eugene and Joan Savitt in memory of Dr. and Mrs. E.K. Zaworski, her grandparents

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.