Museum dedicated to Krishna art

Vijay Sabharwal

Lord Krishna is an embodiment of intellectual and spiritual glory. He has been a source of perennial inspiration for art and literature.  

The Kurukshetra Development Board established Srikrishna Museum in 1987 with a view to awakening people morally and culturally through the ideals of Lord Krishna and also making them aware about the history of the region. Subsequently, it was shifted to the present building in 1991 and a new block was added in 1995. In 2012, a Multimedia Mahabharata and Gita Gallery was created in the third museum building. The theme of the museum is Krishna, Kurukshetra and Mahabharata. 

At present the museum has nine galleries spread over three buildings. Artifacts representing Krishna as godhead, an incarnation of Vishnu, a great philosopher, an epic hero, an astute statesman and a supreme lover are displayed here. 

The major collections of this gallery pertaining to the Krishna theme consist of a variety of art objects such as woodcarvings, metal castings, and ivory carvings. The woodcarver evolved his style according to the quality of the wood. The gallery comprises a wide range of wooden sculptures, mostly from Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

Among the wooden objects displayed here are four wooden panels showing the incarnations of Lord Vishnu and scenes from Krishna’s early life. The style is typical of Odisha and belongs to the 18th-19th century AD. The other prominent wooden panels from Odisha displayed  depict the childhood exploits of Krishna i.e. Aristhavadha (Krishna killing a bull demon), Kesivadha (Krishna killing a horse demon), Putanavadha (Krishna killing demon Putana), Kubjanugraha (Krishna curing a hunchbacked woman) etc. 

The notable wood carvings from Tamil Nadu displayed in the gallery include some stylistically and thematically interesting specimens such as Venugopal (standing cross-legged with a flute held in both hands), Dasavatara (ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu), Kaliyamardana (Krishna subduing serpent Kaliya). Among the woodcarvings from Karnataka is a sandalwood carving displaying Krishna as Venugopal on the one side and an exquisitely carved image of Gajendra Moksha (Vishnu rescuing the elephant) on the other. 

The other important displays in this gallery are metal objects such as various exploits of Krishna such as Bal-Krishna, Yashoda-Krishna, Navanita-Krishna, Venugopala, Krishna with gopis, Kaliyamardana, Krishna with Rukmini and Satyabhama, etc. Notable among the metal sculptures are Kaliyamardana from Tamil Nadu, and Yasoda with Krishna and Balarama and Varaha Avatara from Ganjam (Odisha).

Among the notable ivory collections of this gallery is a beautiful figure of Krishna standing in ‘Tribhanga’ pose. Some smaller pieces showing scenes from Krishna’s life are also displayed here. Special notice should be taken of an ivory plaque with a painting of the Govaradhana scene in the late Mughal style of the 18th century AD. 

The most important sculpture is a Kushana sculpture of Ekanamsa recovered from Faridabad belonging to the first century AD. It shows the figures of Balarama, Ekanamsha (sister of Krishna and Balarama) and Krishna. Another unique image is of Hari-Pitamaha made of buff sandstone in the 9th century AD. It is a rare composite image of Vishnu and Brahma. Two enlarged replicas of an Indo-Greek copper coin issued by king Agathocles in the 2nd century BC found from Ai-khanum in Afghanistan show Balarama and Krishna.  This happened to be the earliest representation of Krishna in the Indian art and iconography. Hence, it has a lot of significance from the point of view of the origin of Krishna art in India on the one hand and the development of the Bhagavata religion in the 2nd century BC in the Afghanistan region on the other.

 The next gallery is for audio-visual show on Gita. This 11-minute show is the major attraction of the Mahabharata Gallery. Through this show, the otherwise difficult philosophy of Gita is communicated to common audience in the manner they can understand. 

According to Rajinder Rana, Curator of the museum, educational activities are organised in the museum throughout the year. The museum authorities are trying to provide basic amenities to visitors. On an average, the museum records around 1,000 footfalls every day. 

(The writer is a senior journalist based in Kurukshetra)