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Explained: ‘Krishna pointing at Eid moon’ painting



Ain't got time for this. I am going to keep it short and simple.




First: Origin of how the image ended up online

In 2014, it was first released by online museum of famous Pakistani painter Abdur Rahman Chughtai (who had done painting with Krishna theme). The belief that it is Krishna showing Eid moon also comes from there. The original image with in Germany in private collection. Interestingly, the original caption by uploader talks of "two nations" and not just two religions. Since, subcontinent has no culture of properly citing sources, Dipankar Deb ( Swarajya, in a 2015 article) just used the image and didn't mention the source. And rest all it was copy-pasted over and over again.


As for what is depicted, (it is amazing that people, even people who claim to be "true" hindus, can't even read these images clearly now): 

The scene is the beginning of famous Govardhan episode. On the new moon day (of Shukla Paksha), Krishna asks Nanda (royalty depicted in image similar to that of Mughals) to start worship of Govardhan (the hill in the back). The episode ends with iconic Krishna lifting the mountain.

Krishna Holding Mount Govardhan to protect the inhabitans of Vrindavana from natural disasters ca. 1790 Color on paper H: 25.3 W: 17.1 cm Attributed to Mola Ram (1760-1833)


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