Painting of three rooms with weathered edges. In a large red room with a domed ceiling, Balarama in blue trousers is depicted twice, fighting one king, above, and then killing Rukmin, below. On the left, blue-skinned Krishna watches the action. In a small green room, three men stand in the bottom left corner. In another small green room above, two women and a man sit, watching the battle in the main room.
AKM131, Balarama slays Rukmi, King of Kalinga, From a dispersed manuscript of the Legend of the Blessed One (Bhagavata Purana)

© The Aga Khan Museum

Back of painting with 7 lines of Nagari script on weathered paper.
AKM131, Balarama slays Rukmi, King of Kalinga, From a dispersed manuscript of the Legend of the Blessed One (Bhagavata Purana), Back

© The Aga Khan Museum

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Balarama slays Rukmi, King of Kalinga, From a dispersed manuscript of the Legend of the Blessed One (Bhagavata Purana)
  • Accession Number:AKM131
  • Place:India, Delhi-Agra or Mewar
  • Dimensions:16.9 cm × 23.8 cm
  • Date:ca. 1540
  • Materials and Technique:Opaque watercolour on paper

The Hindu Legend of the Legend of the Blessed One (Bhagavata Purana) celebrates the god Vishnu, who descends to Earth in various forms to restore the balance of the universe. This page comes from a now-dispersed copy featuring paintings on one side and the Sanskrit text on the other, depicting Krishna (at lower left) as he watches his brother Balarama in the act of killing King Rukmi. This book format lies midway between the horizontal rectangular pages of the palm-leaf (pothi) style typical of Sanskrit manuscripts and the vertical pages of Islamic books.

 

- Filiz Çakır Phillip and Suzanne Conklin Akbari

Note: This online resource is reviewed and updated on an ongoing basis. We are committed to improving this information and will revise and update knowledge about this object as it becomes available.

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