Northern India, Pahari kingdoms / c. 1760–65
Pradyumna and Samvara fight with maces, from the "Large Basohli Bhagavata Purana"
The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogs Pradyumna and Samvara fight with maces, from the "Large Basohli Bhagavata Purana" as painting (Northern India, Pahari kingdoms · c. 1760–65).
Pradyumna is the incarnation (avatar) of Kama, the god of erotic love.
A CLOSER LOOK
The museum identifies this painting as Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper.
The museum's collection notes: Paintings from this Pahari series often place figures against boldly contrasting backgrounds. Here, the scene that takes place a moment before the prince Pradyumna’s mace, or club, vanquishes the demon Samvara is frozen in time. Years before, the demon heard a prophecy that Pradyumna would one day murder him. Hearing this, Samvara kidnapped Pradyumna as an infant and threw him into the ocean, where a fish swallowed him. The fish was caught and brought to Samvara’s kitchen, where the woman who would become his wife, Mayavati, discovered the baby still alive in its belly. Pradyumna lived to fulfill the prophecy, eventually killing the demon in
FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE
The Cleveland Museum of ArtPradyumna and Samvara fight with maces, from the "Large Basohli Bhagavata Purana"Original explanation based on the sources above. Images carry their own reuse terms.