Painting, Bhagavata Purana manuscript, marriage of Vasudeva and Devaki, opaque watercolour on paper, Rajasthan, possibly Mewar, ca. 1520-1540

Painting, opaque watercolour on paper, from a dispersed manuscript of the Bhagavata Purana, depicting the marriage of Krishna's parents, Vasudeva and Devaki. Slightly to the left of the centre, against a red background, stand the couple; Vasudeva in the high white head-dress of a groom and Devaki wearing a dark pink, diamond-patterned sari and black tassel ornaments at her wrists. Before them the hotri (Vedic priest) performs the marriage rites over the sacrificial fire. He pours ghee (clarified butter) from a long-handled libation spoon into the fire. To the left, similarly dressed in blue, pink and white patterned saris stand three female attendants, one of whom bears a ewer. To the right sit a white-bearded Ugrasena and his son Kamsa, attended by a priest and a chauri-bearer. The skin tones vary from yellow to light brown. Above the assembly a yellow pandal with green awning has been erected, supported by slender, torch-lit columns, and hung with delicate white festoons and fleshy leaves. The roof of the pandal together with an outer wall divide the picture horizontally so that the upper area contains the architectural features of a palace: a white central dome, two chhatri with pink interiors, castellations against a black background which forms an undulating horizon where it meets the dark blue and white sky. Below a row of ritual vessels in the foreground of the picture is an area of red, rubbed and worn around the edges, on which is an inscription in nagari. On the reverse is another inscription.

The marriage of Krishna's parents, Vasudeva and Devaki.

Given by John Bachofen von Echt.

The scene depicts the marriage of Krishna's parents, Vasudeva and Devaki, before the Vedic priest who performs the ceremony over the sacrificial fire. It is from a dispersed Bhagavata Purana manuscript of some three hundred folios recounting the exploits of Krishna. It was probably painted in ca. 1520-40 and, as few Indian miniature paintings of this relatively early date survive, the folios from this manuscript are of considerable historical interest. The style, with its bold blocks of colour, lack of spatial perspective and depiction of faces in profile, predates the introduction of Iranian influences to Indian painting during the reign of the Mughal Emperor Akbar (r.1556-1605).

IS.1-1977