Introduction

Louis MacNeice in Ten Burnt Offerings describes a much-loved cat, Fluid as Krishna chasing the milkmaids. The same Krishna, flute player and lover of milkmaids, is familiar to British audiences from the dancing of Ram Gopal. Various texts have dealt with Krishna, emphasizing first one and then another aspect of his character and in the process assembling more and more details. Krishna was already the one best known to the West and, perhaps, the one least requiring explanation. During the twentieth century, a certain type of Indian painting began to fascinate the West. Unlike Mughal art, it was a product of Hindu courts in Rajasthan and the Punjab Hills and unlike Mughal painting; its chief concern was with the varied phases of romance. Ladies would be shown brooding in their chambers as storm clouds mounted in the sky.