Artwork Page for Cremation of the demon Putana, from a Krishna-Lila

Details / Information for Cremation of the demon Putana, from a Krishna-Lila

Cremation of the demon Putana, from a Krishna-Lila

c. 1790

Northern India, Pahari kingdoms

Medium
Gum tempera on paper
Measurements
Overall: 20.9 x 31.2 cm (8 1/4 x 12 5/16 in.)
Credit Line
Delia E. Holden Fund 1984.4
Public Domain
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Location
242B Indian Painting
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Did You Know?

Lila means “divine play” in Sanskrit.

Description

In the foreground, men of Vraj, the cowherd village where the Hindu god Krishna lived as a child, cut up the oversized corpse of the demon Putana. Already, they carry her forearms and hands to the burning pyre at the upper left. Putana arrived in the form of a wet nurse with secretly poisoned breasts. When she began to feed Krishna, he sucked the life out of her, at which point she resumed her true form. At the right, shocked cowherd women bathe baby Krishna.
A horizontally oriented gum tempera painting in muted, gray-tinted tones depicts figures with medium skin tones. In the lower center, men use axes to dismember the large, prone body of Putana. To our left, a bearded man sits in a bull-drawn chariot. To our right, women and children gather on a porch near two cows. In the upper left, figures carry logs toward a fire while a village sits in the distance.

Cremation of the demon Putana, from a Krishna-Lila

c. 1790

Northern India, Pahari kingdoms

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