Domestic Shrine with Krishna and Radha

Domestic Shrine with Krishna and Radha
Bengal, India, 18th – 19th century
Bronze
Collection of the Newark Museum. Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Richard J. Nalin, 1988 88.480

In this elegant devotional shrine, the charismatic Krishna enchants his cherished devotee, Radha, with his ethereal music. Radha, an exemplar of devotion for all devotees, responds to her Beloved with adoration. Their total dedication to one another is set forth as a type for all worshippers. The dense foliate imagery on the shrine evokes the forest of Vrindavan in northern India, where Krishna lived and grazed his cows. The pair of peacocks in the background and the peacock on the finial of the shrine represent love. Krishna, the all-attractive deity, is often depicted with a peacock feather in his hair, denoting his beauty and his status as prince among the avatars of Vishnu. Peacock songs and mating also coincide with the monsoon rains on the Indian sub-continent, symbols of verdant love and desire. During worship, offerings to Krishna and Radha would be placed on the outer shelf, an act of puja where the worshipper, too, may participate in complete adoration of the divine. Thus, the shrine is both a shelter and an altar.

All photographs and videos have been provided by Entrepid Productions with support from Andrew Hair, Daniel King, and Garth Pratt.