Pictures were produced in large numbers and the Kangra style with its delicate refinement exactly mirrored the enraptured poetry of the later cult.

This painting was due entirely to a particular Kangra ruler, Raja Sansar Chand (1775-1823)his delight in painting causing him to spare no cost in re-creating the Krishna idyll in exquisite terms.

Among the many artists employed by Sansar Chand, a certain Purkhu was notable for his 'remarkable clearness of tone and delicacy of handling,' and though none of his pictures are signed it is these qualities which characterize one of the two most famous sets of illustrations executed in Kangra.

Kangra painting continued throughout the nineteenth century but it was only during Sansar Chand's own reign (1775-1823) that the style achieved great lyrical glory.

None of the local styles, however, possessed the same prestige as that of Kangra and all were subsequently obliterated by the general Kangra manner.

[Footnote 117: Archer, Kangra Painting, Plates 1 and 2; also p. 4 where the second of the two Kangra masters is described.]

The scene is illustrated in two Kangra and Guler paintings (Archer, Indian Painting in the Punjab Hills, Figs. 10 and 23).

Kangra Painting (London, 1952).

The style founded by him influenced members of his own family, including his nephew Kushala and ultimately spread to Kangra and Garhwal where it reached its greatest heights.

[Illustration] PLATE 5 The Felling of the Trees Illustration to the Bhagavata Purana Kangra, Punjab Hills, c. 1790 State Museum, Lucknow From the same great series as Plate 3, here attributed to the Kangra artist Purkhu.

[Illustration] PLATE 8 The Quelling of the Snake Kaliya Illustration to the Bhagavata Purana Kangra, Punjab Hills, c. 1790 J.K. Mody collection, Bombay With Plates 3, 5 and 6, an example of Kangra painting in its most serene form.

[Illustration] PLATE 8 The Quelling of the Snake Kaliya Illustration to the Bhagavata Purana Kangra, Punjab Hills, c. 1790 J.K. Mody collection, Bombay With Plates 3, 5 and 6, an example of Kangra painting in its most serene form.

[Illustration] PLATE 9 Balarama killing the Demon Pralamba Illustration to the Bhagavata Purana Kangra, Punjab Hills, c. 1790 National Museum, New Delhi A further example from the Kangra series, here attributed to Purkhu.

[Illustration] PLATE 11 The Stealing of the Clothes Illustration to the Bhagavata Purana Kangra, Punjab Hills, c. 1790 J.K. Mody collection, Bombay Despite the Indian delight in sensuous charm, the nude was only rarely depicted in Indian paintingfeelings of reverence and delicacy forbidding too unabashed a portrayal of the feminine physique.

[Illustration] PLATE 13 Krishna with his Favourite after leaving the Dance Illustration to the Bhagavala Purana Kangra, Punjab Hills, c. 1790 J.K. Mody collection, Bombay Besides Purkhu, at least two other master-artists worked at Kangra towards the end of the eighteenth centuryone, responsible for the present picture and Plates 14 and 15, being still unknown.

[Illustration] PLATE 13 Krishna with his Favourite after leaving the Dance Illustration to the Bhagavala Purana Kangra, Punjab Hills, c. 1790 J.K. Mody collection, Bombay Besides Purkhu, at least two other master-artists worked at Kangra towards the end of the eighteenth centuryone, responsible for the present picture and Plates 14 and 15, being still unknown.

[Illustration] PLATE 14 Krishna's Favourite deserted Illustration to the Bhagavata Purana Kangra, Punjab Hills, c. 1790 National Museum, New Delhi From the same series as Plates 13 and 15 by 'the master of the moonlight.

[Illustration] PLATE 15 The Quest for Krishna Illustration to the Bhagavata Purana Kangra, Punjab Hills, c. 1790 J.K. Mody collection, Bombay

[Illustration] PLATE 16 The Eve of the final Encounter Illustration to the Bhagavata Purana Kangra, Punjab Hills, c. 1790 J.K. Mody collection, Bombay From the same series as Plates 3, 5, 6, 8, 9 and 11, here attributed to the Kangra artist Purkhu.

[Illustration] PLATE 17 The End of the Tyrant Illustration to the Bhagavata Purana Kangra, Punjab Hills, c. 1790 Chester Beatty Library, Dublin

The painting is by a Kangra master, perhaps Kushala, the nephew of the Guler artist, Nainsukh, and illustrates the power of Kangra painters to imbue with innocent delicacy the most intensely emotional of situations.

The painting is by a Kangra master, perhaps Kushala, the nephew of the Guler artist, Nainsukh, and illustrates the power of Kangra painters to imbue with innocent delicacy the most intensely emotional of situations.

It was the investment of passion with dignity which was one of the chief contributions of Kangra painting to Indian art.

[Illustration] PLATE 36 Krishna meeting Radha Illustration to a poem from the Sat Sai of Bihari Kangra, Punjab Hills, c. 1790

The picture is most probably by the Kangra artist, Kushala, to whom Plate 21 may also be assigned.