ART FROM THE COURT OF EMPEROR AKBAR - THE HARIVAMSA

"Krishna Holds Up Mount Govardhan to Shelter the Villagers of Braj"

THE MUGHAL HARIVAMSA - THE STORY OF KRISHNA


In 1574, Mughal emperor Akbar (reign 1556-1605) created a bureau of Records and Translation at Fatehpur Sikri. The aim was to translate important texts, including Hindu epics, into Persian and to illustrate them in the royal workshops. In order to accomplish this task, scholarly Mullahs and Pandits collaborated over several years as Sanskrit texts were reborn in Persian — the Mahabharata became the Razmnama; the Vishnu Purana and Kathasaritsagara were translated.

 For the artists at the Mughal court (which included Muslims, Hindus, Europeans and women painters), illustrating these manuscripts posed a special challenge because this was an almost entirely new type of imagery. 

"Balarama and Krishna fighting the enemy"

 (The Harivamsa recounts the story of Krishna, one of the incarnations of the Hindu god Vishnu. In this battle scene, Krishna, dressed in yellow and holding his discus, stands atop a mountain. Carrying his own attributes of the plow and pestle, Krishna’s older brother Balarama strikes a soldier of the opposing army.)

One masterpiece from the Harivamsa depicts Krishna lifting Mount Govardhan to protect the villagers of Braj from the wrath of Indra. At the very centre of the painting stands the blue god, executed in the naturalistic Mughal style, but also bearing his attributes of blue skin, vanmala and peacock crown. The mountain is painted as a mass of stylised rocks, derived from Persian, and ultimately Chinese, painting, and is filled with plants, birds and animals. Clustered below are the villagers of Braj, along with a trio of Mughal courtiers. Among the old men, sadhus, young boys, and women, one female figure on the right is loosely based upon a European print image of the Madonna. Of equal interest is the group of cows in the foreground that are painted with great sensitivity and individualisation.

"Balarama and Krishna Fighting the Enemy"

 

 

 

 ( In this battle scene, Krishna, dressed in yellow and holding his discus, stands atop a mountain. Carrying his own attributes of the plow and pestle, Krishna’s older brother Balarama strikes a soldier of the opposing army)


While temple sculpture of the period tends to show Krishna using his little finger to lift the mountain, in this painting he performs the miraculous act with the flat of his palm. This small but significant detail shows that the unknown artist was in line with the earliest iconography of this subject, such as in the relief carvings at Mamallapuram (7th century). The miracle of this and other such works of its kind reflect a simple fact — that Muslim patronage was a vital key to the development of Hindu religious painting. Other folios of the Mughal Harivamsa show Krishna and his brother Balarama fighting their enemies.



- Folios from the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York