Worship of Krishna as the Mountain God

This painting illustrates an early incident from the life of Krishna as recounted in the Bhagavata Purana (The Ancient Story of the Blessed One). The encounter involves Indra, the Vedic divinity of rain, to whom Nanda, Krishna's foster father, and other herdsmen customarily offered sacrifices. On learning that elaborate offerings were being prepared to honor his rival Indra, Krishna convinced Nanda and the herdsmen to worship the sacred mountain Govardhana instead. When they collected the sacrifices intended for Indra and presented them to the mountain, the devious Krishna assumed the form of a mountain himself and ate their offerings. In the center of this typical Malwa work is a pink Mount Govardhana upon which a blue Krishna accepts the sacrifice of curds and fruit from the female cowherds. To the right in the green register, the oversized Nanda, cowherds, and Krishna himself pay homage to Krishna as the mountain god.