Krishna and his Friends Celebrate Holi in the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, June 2018

Krishna and His Friends Celebrate Holi in the Forests of Vrindavan (Primary Title)

Unknown (Artist)

Date: ca. 1710-1720

Culture: Indian

Category: Paintings, Works On Paper

Medium: opaque watercolor, ink on paper backed with fabric netting

Collection: South Asian Art

Geography: Rajasthan, Mewar, India

Dimensions: Unframed: 24 3/4 × 35 3/4 in. (62.87 × 90.81 cm)

Object Number: 96.33


This extraordinary painting from Mewar depicts the youthful Krishna and his friends, the cowherds and cow maidens, celebrating Holi in the forests of Vrindavan. During this spring festival, the rigid social rules of traditional Hindu society are temporarily suspended. Raucous celebrations, which include spraying people with colored water, are the order of the day. Krishna’s flirtations and gallantries with the cow maidens during Holi are presented here as a continuous narrative of scenes set on the banks of the Yamuna River. They illustrate the poem written in the yellow panel at the top of the page that describes a vision of Krishna experienced by the 16th-century Hindu mystic Surdas. To Krishna’s followers, these tales of love in Vrindavan’s forests are metaphors for the emotionally charged relationship between God and his devotees.

Text from: www.vmfa.museum/piction/6027262-151063275