Wooden chariots—known as rathas—are used by many temples in processions that take place annually during Hindu festivals. The main function of the festival chariots is as a means of transport to convey the murti [sacred image] of a deity or deities. To inaugurate the celebrations, and after rendering homage at the temple to the chariot, the vehicle is driven around the settlement. At the end of the parade, the chariot is returned to the temple.
The panel composition in the National Gallery develops one of the most popular subjects associated with Krishna, that of the ‘theft of the gopis’ clothing’. The theme is presented symmetrically in matching pairs of panels, with the narrative flowing from the outer to the central sections. In the lowest peripheral panels, the god Krishna is depicted playing a flute while perched in a tree; beneath him stand the embarrassed gopis (female cowherds), whose garments have been stolen by the playful Krishna after they had entered the river to bathe, leaving them naked. This theme is maintained in the second, tallest pair of panels, where the majority of gopis, all rhythmically represented in two registers, are shown below a couple of figures depicted with no recognisable attributes. The subject is complemented by the presence of the divine bird Garuda that sits on the treetop.
This frontal screen of a festival chariot at the National Gallery was displayed at Kvadrat 500 for the first time in the exhibition titled ‘Lord Krishna’, which ran from 16.08.2022 to 16.10.2022, before being extended until 08.01.2023, with the study, ‘Attribution and Dating of a Frontal Screen from Kerala, South India, in the National Gallery Collection’, by Yoana Tavityan and Zlatka Dimitrova presented at the ‘Eastern Studies: Traditions and Modernity’ International Scientific Conference, in memory of Prof. Alexander Fedotov, St Kliment Ohridski Sofia University, Sofia, 15–16.10.2022.
