Kalinga Mardhana Krishna

This is an old and rare monochrome Mysore School painting of ‘Kalinga Mardhana Krishna’, depicting the story of Lord Krishna's meeting with Kaliya, or Kalinga. Kaliya was a dreaded and poisonous serpent, who was driven away by Garuda from the banks of Ramanaka Dwipa. He then moved to Vrindavan, on the banks of Yamuna. Kaliya was known to be so venomous that the waters churned and turned black with his poison. No one went near the part of the river where he stayed. But one day, Lord Krishna and his friends were playing there, and Krishna entered the waters, where Kaliya attacked him, not knowing Krishna's powers. Lord Krishna held the serpent's tail, and started dancing on his head. And soon after, Kaliya realized his mistake and promised not to torment anyone again.