A picchavai for the festival of Gopashtami, the festival of cows Deccan, 18th Century


of rectangular form, decorated in gold, silver and opaque pigments on cloth, depicting multiple rows of cows standing in profile, a floral spray to centre contained within a rectangle, the border with a design of flowerheads and foliate motifs, backed 105.8 x 148.5 cm.
|Picchvais such as the present example are large paintings on cloth relating to the worship of Krishna. They were commissioned for temples and shrines, often for specific festivals. Gopashtami represents a significant day for worshippers of Krishna, marking the day in which Krishna is elevated from a herder of calves to a fully-fledged cowherd.Although most picchvais originate from Rajasthan, where many Krishna-worshipping sects such as the worshippers of Sri Nath-ji originate, this piece was produced in the Deccan. The profuse use of gold and silver is typical of Deccani picchvais, which began to be produced after a community of Sri Nath-ji devotees moved to the region. The symmetrical and ordered style of the floral spray to the centre typifies the influence of the Mughal aesthetic in the Deccan, which assimilates with the typically Rajasthani subject matter.