The Krishna Janmashtami festival marks the birth of Krishna, one of the most popular Gods in the Hindu pantheon.
Krishna is perceived by most Hindus to be an avatar (incarnation) of lord Vishnu, who is regarded as the highest avatar.
Krishna’s birthday is celebrated eight days after Raksha Bandhan in the month of Sravana and celebrations are spread over two days. The first day is called Krishan ashtami or Gokul ashtami. The second day is known as Kaal ashtami or more popularly Janam ashtami.
The various episodes in the life of lord Krishna ranging from the cute little butter thief, prankster, disciple, guru, cowherd, lover, warrior, philosopher, strategist
to the charioteer guide of Arjun in Mahabharat, who helped the warrior find his path in the midst of battle is extraordinary and unsurpassable. His life was a model for people in days past, the modern world and surely for those in ages to come.
Each episode in Krishna’s saga carries a lesson for human beings within it.
Iconographic Perception of Krishna’s Pratima:
In the form of the science of images or pratimas, iconography (Pratima Vigyan) has an important place in India’s cultural tradition, since it has religion and philosophy as its integral part. Krishna’s life has inspired a treasure house of painting, sculpture, murals-miniatures, poetry, music and other fine arts. Amongst all the Gods, it is Krishna who has mostly impressed the temple art form of the medieval age. His iconography shows him in different stages of his life, such as an infant eating butter, a young boy playing a flute, a young boy with Radha or surrounded by women devotees, or a friendly charioteer giving counsel to Arjuna.
Krishna is represented in the Indian traditions in many ways, but with some common features. His iconography typically depicts him with black, dark, or blue skin, like Vishnu. However, ancient and medieval reliefs and stone-based arts depict him in the natural color of the material out of which he is formed, both in India and in southeast Asia. In some texts, his skin is poetically described as the color of Jamun, a purple-colored fruit.
Krishna is often depicted wearing a peacock-feather wreath or crown, and playing the bansuri (Indian flute). In this form, he is usually shown standing with one leg bent in front of the other in the Tribhanga posture. He is sometimes accompanied by cows or a calf, which symbolise the divine herdsman Govinda. Alternatively, he is shown as a romantic young boy with the gopis (milkmaids), often making music or playing pranks.
In other icons, he is a part of battlefield scenes of the epic Mahabharata. He is shown as a charioteer, notably when he is addressing the Pandava prince Arjuna character, symbolically reflecting the events that led to the Bhagavad Gita – a scripture of Hinduism. In these popular depictions, Krishna appears in the front as the charioteer, either as a counsel listening to Arjuna or as the driver of the chariot while Arjuna aims his arrows in the battlefield of Kurukshetra.
Alternate icons of Krishna show him as a baby (Bala Krishna, the child Krishna), a toddler crawling on his hands and knees, a dancing child, or an innocent-looking child playfully stealing or consuming butter (Makkan Chor), holding Laddu in his hand, ‘Laddu Gopal’ or as a cosmic infant sucking his toe while floating on a banyan leaf during the Pralaya (the cosmic dissolution) observed by sage Markandeya. Regional variations in the iconography of Krishna are seen in his different forms, such as Jaganatha in Odisha, Vithoba in Maharashtra, Shrinathji in Rajasthan and Guruvayoorappan in Kerala.
Guidelines for the preparation of Krishna icons in design and architecture are described in medieval-era Sanskrit texts on Hindu temple arts such as Vaikhanasa agama, Vishnu dharmottara, Brihat samhita, and Agni Purana. Similarly, early medieval-era Tamil texts also contain guidelines for sculpting Krishna and Rukmini. Several statues made according to these guidelines are in the collections of the Government Museum, Chennai.
Krishna iconography forms an important element in the figural sculpture on 17th-19th century terracotta temples of Bengal. In many temples, the stories of Krishna are depicted on a long series of narrow panels along the base of the facade. In other temples, the important Krishna leela episodes are depicted on large brick panels above the entrance arches or on the walls surrounding the entrance.
