Venugopala - I

This is an exquisite old Mysore School painting of ‘Venugopala’ (Krishna), the God of love and compassion. On the left in a red sari is Radha, his consort, and on the right is Rukmini - another consort. The Sanskrit word Gopala means ‘cow protector’ and also ‘protector of the world’. The painting refers to when Krishna was a young man out grazing his cows and enchanted the cowherd maidens (Gopis) with the divine sound of his flute, attracting even Kamadeva (the Hindu God of love and passion). Krishna is the eighth incarnation of Vishnu, but is worshipped in his own right.