Krishna and Radha
This image, painted in an oval frame, depicts Radha as "she who goes out to seek her lover," the
"abhisarika," one of the eight basic nayikas or heroines. Radha slips past a sleeping woman by Krishna's
door; other women are busy on the terrace in conversation.
She draws her hands to her lips as if considering
for the last time not to go to him, but moves steadily forward into the doorway, harboring a tender smile of
anticipation. Above, his beautiful body relaxed but alert, Krishna awaits his visitor, who comes to him under
cover of darkness dressed in a black shawl friendly to the night. But her golden sari is radiant, mirroring
her anticipation. The composition holds the lovers counter-poised in two registers in a last exhilarating
moment of separation before they are united in their trysting place.
Continue the story of Lover and Beloved
