The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 29, 2024

Krishna Watches the Milkmaids  Circumambulating a Sacred Tree: the Month of Jyestha (May–June), from a Baramasa (The Twelve Months)

Krishna Watches the Milkmaids Circumambulating a Sacred Tree: the Month of Jyestha (May–June), from a Baramasa (The Twelve Months)

c. 1760
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

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

Description

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.
  • ?–2018
    Catherine Glynn Benkaim and Barbara Timmer, Beverly Hills, CA, partial sale and gift to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    2018–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • {{cite web|title=Krishna Watches the Milkmaids Circumambulating a Sacred Tree: the Month of Jyestha (May–June), from a Baramasa (The Twelve Months)|url=false|author=|year=c. 1760|access-date=29 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2018.163