Artwork Page for Hindola Raga

Details / Information for Hindola Raga

Hindola Raga

c. 1790–1800

Northern India, Pahari kingdoms

Medium
Gum tempera and gold on paper
Measurements
Image: 20.5 x 15.3 cm (8 1/16 x 6 in.); with mat: 35.5 x 25.4 cm (14 x 10 in.)
Credit Line
Edward L. Whittemore Fund 1975.9
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
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Did You Know?

The word hindola means "swing" in Sanskrit.

Description

To celebrate the coming of spring, Krishna sits on a swing with his beloved Radha as their companions, the cowherd boys and milkmaids, play music, dance, admire the idyllic couple, and keep their swing gently in motion.

In Sanskrit, hindola means swing, and this painting belonged to a set of ragas, which are paintings associated with a musical mode. Music played in the Hindola Raga elicits the fever of young love in springtime. Radha and Krishna represent the ideal of a young couple in love.
A vertically oriented tempera painting depicts Krishna, a god with blue skin tone, and Radha, a woman with light skin tone, looking at each other, sitting on the rectangular platform of a swing suspended under an orange-red arch. People with light to medium-light skin tone surround them, playing instruments and dancing below and smiling and watching the couple on either side. In the background, more dance among cows, the yellow-gold ground transitioning to an arch of trees.

Hindola Raga

c. 1790–1800

Northern India, Pahari kingdoms

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