Krishna watches the milkmaids circumambulating a sacred tree: The month of Jyestha (May–June), from a Barahmasa (The Twelve Months) (c. 1760): Art, History and Details

Krishna watches the milkmaids circumambulating a sacred tree: The month of Jyestha (May–June), from a Barahmasa (The Twelve Months) (c. 1760) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

On the day of Jyestha Purnima, having fasted for three days, married women worship the banyan tree by circumambulating it. The goal of this ritual is to ask for a long life for their husbands. The milkmaids (gopis), having already accepted Krishna as their supreme master, are praying for his well-being, while he observed the ritual from behind the plantains.

Object facts

• Title: Krishna watches the milkmaids circumambulating a sacred tree: The month of Jyestha (May–June), from a Barahmasa (The Twelve Months)
• Date: c. 1760
• Culture: Northwestern India, Rajasthan, Rajput Kingdom of Bundi
• Type: Painting
• Technique: gum tempera on paper
• Dimensions: Page: 29.2 x 21 cm (11 1/2 x 8 1/4 in.)
• Collection: Indian Art
• Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
• Accession number: 2018.163

A detail from the museum

The birds and monkeys sitting around the tree are depicted in pairs, like loving couples.

Collection credit

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

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.