Details
- Title : Krishna returns to Dwarka after killing the murderer of his father-in-law
- Year : ca. 1800
- Classification : Watercolour Painting
- Medium : Opaque watercolor and gold on paper
- Dimension : 13 19/32 x 20 3/32 in. (34.5 x 51 cm)
- Accession No : 1990.171
- Country/ Geo-location : NEPAL
- Collection : San Diego Museum of Art
- Credit Line : Edwin Binney 3rd Collection
- Manuscript/Book Title : Bhagavata Purana (Story of the Lord Vishnu)
- Provenance : (1) Maggs Bros. Ltd., London, England ( - August 29, 1964 ) (2) Edwin Binney 3rd, San Diego, California ( August 29, 1964 - August 27, 1990 ) (3) San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, California ( August 27, 1990 - )
- Label Copy : Label Copy: September 2005 Devotional Arts of Nepal An ambitious project produced in Nepal, this unusually large-format series of portfolio pages, when complete, included over one hundred pages. The paintings depict scenes from Book Ten of the Bhagavata Purana, a sacred text devoted to the god Vishnu with special emphasis on his human incarnation as Krishna. Worship of Vishnu, and particularly his form as Krishna, was prominent in Nepal, along with Buddhism and the worship of Shiva and the goddess. These paintings indicate that their makers looked to Rajput traditions of India for inspiration, in aspects including the portfolio format and the use of bright colour; but the Indian elements were adapted in idiosyncratic ways. These pictures present grand architectural tableau, using local Nepali palace and temple forms, in which diminutive figures act in continuous narration. (The stories illustrated in these paintings are narrated in the kiosk program.) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------While Krishna is away from Dwarka, the wicked Shatadhanva kills Satrajit, the father of Krishna’s wife Satyabhama, and steals the Syamantaka gem. He then deposits the gem with his friend Akrura and swiftly flees the city. Overwhelmed with sorrow, Satyabhama goes to Hastinapura to fetch Krishna. Krishna and Balarama set forth and eventually catch and execute Shatadhanva, but the gem cannot be found. Balarama advises Krishna to return to Dwarka to organise Satrajit’s funerary rites. The figure with the dark blue skin is Krishna arriving at Dwarka, the city in the middle of the ocean. Shopkeepers, guards, and fishermen carry on with their daily activities while the figures seated at the water’s edge perform rituals for Satrajit. This folio and the next are from a Nepalese manuscript that illustrates episodes from the second half of the tenth book of the Bhagavata Purana. Each folio has captions in the borders in the local language, as well as folio numbers. The caption here states that Krishna oversees the appropriate funerary rites after returning to Dwarka.
- Exhibition History : Epic Tales from India: Paintings from The San Diego Museum of Art, The San Diego Museum of Art, 11/19/2016 - 6/12/2018