- Title
- Raja Sidh Sen of Mandi (r. 1684-1727) as Vasudeva Carrying Baby Krishna over the Yamuna River
- Date Made
- circa 1775-1800
- Medium
- Opaque watercolor on paper
- Dimensions
- Image: 5 1/4 x 7 1/4 in. (13.34 x 18.42 cm); Sheet: 6 1/8 x 8 1/4 in. (15.56 x 20.96 cm)
- Accession Number
- M.81.271.13
- Collecting Area
- South and Southeast Asian Art
- Curatorial Notes
Raja Sidh Sen (r. 1684-1727) was born in 1634. At the age of fifty in 1684 he ascended the throne of the princely state of Mandi in present-day Himachal Pradesh and ruled for forty-three years until his death in 1727. Sidh Sen was noteworthy for his primary devotion to Shiva and commissioned several temples dedicated to Shiva and the Goddess. His legendary stature, over seven feet tall, is affirmed by numerous portraits. He was a great warrior and a deeply religious man who followed tantric practices and was believed to have supernatural powers. His golden amulet (gutka) was said to enable him to fly to the source of the Ganges River each morning for his daily bath.
Although Sidh Sen is often portrayed with Shaiva imagery (see M.75.4.25), here he is shown in a Vaishnava aspect as Krishna’s father Vasudeva carrying the blue-skinned infant Krishna over the Yamuna River to Gokula to exchange him with the daughter of Yashoda in order to protect him from the evil King Kamsa of Mathura (see also M.81.272.2). Vaishnavism and the worship of a manifestation of Vishnu named Madho Rai had been introduced as the state religion of Mandi by Raja Suraj Sen (r. 1637-1664), but Shaivaism remained the dominant form of religion.
- Selected Bibliography
- Meller, Susan. Labels of Empire: Textile Trademarks: Windows into India in the Time of the Raj. Novato, CA: Goff Books, 2023.
