Upper stele with hand for Krishna Lifting Mount Govardhan
Unknown Artist
c. 600
Medium
Sandstone
Dimensions
104.8 × 69.2 × 10.8 cm
Classification
Sculpture
Department
Indian and Southeast Asian Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift from the Government of the Kingdom of Cambodia
Accession Number
1973.106.b
About this artwork
This masterwork of early Cambodian sculpture shows the Hindu god Krishna effortlessly holding aloft a mountain to protect his fellow villagers and herds from torrential storms sent by a jealous old god. It is one of eight monumental monolithic figures recovered from a two-peaked mountain in the floodplains of the Mekong River delta, on the outskirts of the ancient urban center of Angkor Borei.