Northern India, Pahari kingdoms / c. 1790
Cremation of the demon Putana, from a Krishna-Lila
The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogs Cremation of the demon Putana, from a Krishna-Lila as painting (Northern India, Pahari kingdoms · c. 1790).
Lila means “divine play” in Sanskrit.
A CLOSER LOOK
The museum identifies this painting as Gum tempera on paper.
The museum's collection notes: 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.
FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE
The Cleveland Museum of ArtCremation of the demon Putana, from a Krishna-LilaOriginal explanation based on the sources above. Images carry their own reuse terms.