_Krishna attended by Ladies_
Illustration to the musical mode, _Bhairava Raga_
Hyderabad. Deccan, c. 1750
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Like Plate 33, an illustration to a poem accompanying a leading mode of
Indian music. Krishna is sitting on a bed while Radha is rubbing his right
arm with sandal preparatory to making love. In the foreground a maid is
grinding the sandalwood into a paste. Although the poem itself contains no
mention of Krishna, it speaks of Bhairava--a form of Siva--as a raging
lover, 'insensate in a whirlwind of desire.' On this account
Krishna--identified by his blue skin--has been inserted in the picture,
his character as a lover according with the frenzied character of the
poem. In the background a bullock is lifting water from a well and a
gardener is bending over a bed of poppies. Ducks and fishes sport in the
water.
Illustrations to modes of music were common features of the Muslim art of
the Deccan--the association of certain modes with Krishna being carefully
preserved. One of the finest series of _raga_ and _ragini_ pictures
executed at Hyderabad and now in the India Office Library, London,
contains exquisite versions with Krishna themes.
[Illustration]