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A Brahmin gives Krishna the Message or Invitation for the Competition to Rukmini’s Svayamvara, from a Bhagavata Purana
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
Sitting on a stool in a palatial setting, Krishna receives a letter, inviting him to participate in a ceremony called a svayamvara , in which an unmarried woman who has come of age selects a husband. Krishna will later elope with the princess Rukmini. This scene takes place in Krishna’s western palace of Dvaraka, by the ocean, which is depicted with waves and fish at the bottom of the page.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineA Brahmin gives Krishna the Message or Invitation for the Competition to Rukmini’s Svayamvara, from a Bhagavata Purana, c. 1650–60. Central India, Madhya Pradesh, Malwa. Gum tempera and gold on paper; page: 17.1 x 19.7 cm (6 3/4 x 7 3/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase and partial gift from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection; Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund, 2018.133
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