Art, Symbol & Imagination
Kaliya Damana: Khitindra Nath Mazumdar’s Krishna Plate
Original caption: Kaliya Damana
The serpent’s looping body makes a dense setting for Krishna and the figures appealing to him. Mazumdar treats the encounter as more than a simple contest between strength and danger. In the story Kaliya’s venom poisons the river, Krishna overcomes him by dancing upon his heads, and the serpent’s wives plead for mercy. Krishna permits the defeated serpent to depart with his family, assuring him that Garuda will recognise the marks of his feet. The plate belongs to the passage from subjugation to pardon, where the restoration of the river is joined to the protection of the creature sent away.
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Citation
Khitindra Nath Mazumdar. "Kaliya Damana: Khitindra Nath Mazumdar’s Krishna Plate" [source caption]. In Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists, Sister Nivedita and Ananda K. Coomaraswamy. Original scan, 1914, George G. Harrap & Co.. Source scan leaf 277. Lumitheca. /gallery/image/hindu-kaliya-damana
Source details
Title from the printed caption. Editorial description. Source details from the Library catalogue.
Artist credited in the printed list of illustrations. Full source leaf and the adjacent narrative reviewed; historical scan colour and texture retained.
Sources
From the book
Myths of the Hindus and BuddhistsSister Nivedita and Ananda K. Coomaraswamy1914More from this book
Garuda: Nanda Lal Bose’s Mythological Bird Figure
Rama’s Marriage: K. Venkatappa’s Ramayana Illustration
The Death of Maricha: K. Venkatappa’s IllustrationRelated illustrations
Cite this illustration
Khitindra Nath Mazumdar. Kaliya Damana: Khitindra Nath Mazumdar’s Krishna Plate. Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists. Scan leaf 277. Lumitheca. https://lumitheca.com/gallery/image/hindu-kaliya-damana