Hindola Raga
Unknown Artist
c. 1790–1800
Medium
Gum tempera and gold on paper
Dimensions
image: 20.5 × 15.3 cm · with mat: 35.5 × 25.4 cm
Classification
Painting
Department
Indian and Southeast Asian Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Edward L. Whittemore Fund
Accession Number
1975.9
About this artwork
To celebrate the coming of spring, Krishna sits on a swing with his beloved Radha as their companions, the cowherd boys and milkmaids, play music, dance, admire the idyllic couple, and keep their swing gently in motion. In Sanskrit, hindola means swing, and this painting belonged to a set of ragas, which are paintings associated with a musical mode. Music played in the Hindola Raga elicits the fever of young love in springtime. Radha and Krishna represent the ideal of a young couple in love.