Yantra with a wrathful deity and devotional image with Kṛṣṇa and Rādhā.

Description:

India, 19th and 20th c.
21,5 x 20 und D. 30 cm
I: The yantra consists of an eight-petalled lotus blossom enclosed in a frame. Inside the flower is a hexagram (Sanskrit: ṣaṭkoṇa), in the centre of which a wrathful, fourteen-armed deity sits on another lotus flower against a dark background. The hand attributes refer to both Viṣṇuitic (e.g. snail horn and throwing wheel) and śivaitic (e.g. trident and third eye) symbolism. The wrathful aspect is iconographically underlined by the wildly protruding hair. II: The circular image area shows the Hindu god Kṛṣṇa in the centre accompanied by his consort Rādhā dancing. The scene is framed by a group of dancing persons who strongly resemble the pair of gods. The motif goes back to older models showing Kṛṣṇa in the company of shepherdesses (Sanskrit: gopī) at playful dancing (Sanskrit: rāsalīlā). The fact that Kṛṣṇa is shown multiplied here refers to the religious dances known as raslila, which are mainly performed in the region around Braj, the centre of Kṛṣṇa worship in the Indian union state of Uttar Pradesh. In the process, numerous dancers perform together as a divine couple.
From an important private collection in northern Germany, collected mainly in India from the early 1950s to the 1980s - The Yantra with minor damages and restorations, the round painting slightly stained