Pichwai Art Print – Shrinathji and the Mountain of Offerings

Provenance

This art print is composed in the idiom of 'Pichwai', the tradition of large devotional paintings made to hang behind the image of 'Shrinathji', the form of 'Krishna' venerated at Nathdwara in Rajasthan. It depicts an 'Annakut', literally a 'mountain of food', the great offering made to the deity at Govardhan Puja, the day after Diwali, in remembrance of 'Krishna' lifting Govardhan Hill to shelter the people and cattle of Braj from torrential rain. The composition is strictly symmetrical and frontal in the Pichwai manner, with the deity on its central axis, attendants and cows arranged in mirrored ranks, and the offering spread before him in abundant tiers.

'Shrinathji' stands on a low pedestal at the centre, his dark skin set against a green and gold halo, his left arm raised above his head in the gesture that recalls the lifting of the hill and his lowered right hand holding a pink lotus. He wears a jewelled crown and is hung with long strands of pearls, gold ornaments and flower garlands over a flared pink and gold robe. Above him the hill becomes a rounded green landscape dotted with trees, small white shrines, grazing cows, peacocks and herons, with a waterfall at the left, a temple bearing a red pennant at the summit, and the sun and moon in a sky of stylised clouds. On either side, women in richly patterned skirts and veils wave white fly-whisks, carry trays of offerings, fold their hands in greeting or, at the right, play a stringed instrument, while garlanded white cows gather between them and tall standing lamps flank the pedestal. Before the deity the offering rises in heaps and pyramids of sweets, stacked breads, fruit and bowls in gold vessels, bordered by lit diyas, peacocks and reclining cows above a band of pink lotuses on water. Hill, herd and harvest are drawn together into a single image of devotion and plenty.

The palette is deep and jewel-like: midnight blue and dark green grounds lit by gold vessels and ornaments, rose-pink lotuses and garments, and the white of cows, whisks and sweets. Fine detail runs across the whole surface, from the individual pearls of the garlands to the ribbed leaves of the banana plants at the upper corners, and a dark green border of repeated pink blossoms encloses the scene. The image carries the density and ceremony of a temple hanging; the Brahm piece is a made-to-order print that reproduces the appearance of a painted Pichwai and is not a hand-painted work.

Disclaimer:

• The frames shown are for display purposes only and are not included with the artwork.
• As these are made-to-order designer pieces, expect minor colour variations from the displayed artwork.