Select a highlighted point on the painting to encounter insights from our contributing experts about that part of the painting.
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 | Conservation and Scientific Research Team |
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 | Hindu Community Members Advisors |
 | Curatorial Team |
More object information
This pichwai represents the autumn full moon festival of Sharad Purnima. The festival celebrates the night when Krishna graciously multiplied himself to connect individually with each of his devotees. On this starry night, the milkmaids of Braj (gopis) dance with Shri Nathji under a silvery moon.
In Pushtimarg temples, pichwai paintings are part of multisensory ensembles designed to recreate transformative moments in the life of young Krishna. The ensembles are known as festivals (utsav), adornments (shringar), or viewings (darshan). They include three-dimensional props, devotional music, fragrant flowers, and tasty foods. For devotees, viewing Shri Nathji in the temple ensembles is equivalent to being with Krishna in Braj. The artist makes this permeability between the transcendent and the everyday visible. Notice how Shri Nathji’s upraised arm, echoed by the gopis’ postures, seems as much a gesture of dance as one of miraculously lifting an entire mountain.
Select a highlighted point on the painting to encounter insights from our contributing experts about that part of the painting.
The shapes indicate who the insight came from.
| Conservation and Scientific Research Team |
|---|---|
| Hindu Community Members Advisors |
| Curatorial Team |
A region in north India near the Yamuna River in the state of Uttar Pradesh. Mount Govardhan and the city of Mathura are located in Braj.
A teardrop-shaped design motif (often called paisley in the West).
A village milkmaid. The gopis, who felt deep affection for Krishna during his lifetime on earth, personify devotion to the god.
A low mountain located outside the north Indian city of Mathura that is associated with the child Krishna, who miraculously lifted it to shelter his devotees from a torrential rain.
The Mughal Empire controlled much of India between 1526 and 1857. Elements of its highly refined court culture were adopted across India.
A large painted or woven cloth that is an integral part of Pushtimarg devotion to Krishna.
The "Path of Grace" is a Hindu devotional tradition founded in the fifteenth century. It centers on the deity Krishna as a seven-year-old child.
A classical Indian musical mode associated with the monsoon season.
The divine circle dance in which Krishna multiplied himself for each gopi.
In the Pushtimarg community, devotees who care for and serve Krishna.
A festival on the night of the full moon (purnima) in the month of Sharad (September–October).
The central deity of the Hindu Pushtimarg tradition is a form of the god Krishna. Shri Nathji’s name refers to his status as the Lord of Mount Govardhan.
The Yamuna River begins in the Himalayas and flows south past New Delhi before merging with the Ganges. Hindus consider the Yamuna sacred.
At some point before coming to the National Museum of Asian Art, this pichwai was stitched to a support or had other decoration stitched onto it that was later removed, leaving behind lines of holes. During conservation treatment, thin, brown Japanese paper was added to the reverse to help stabilize the stitching holes.
Copper pigments can often turn cotton materials brownish due to complex chemical interactions. On the reverse of this pichwai, the areas with copper-based green pigments have started to affect the cotton fabric.
