Description
This idol was created using Madhuchishtavidhana, it depicts the moment when Krishna accepts Kaliya prayers of mercy and is pleased. The story of Krishna subduing Kaliya snake is in Bhagvata Purana. Briefly the story is about a huge, multi-hooded snake called Kaliya that lived in the river Yamuna. He had became a terror to the cows and residents of Vraja who were dependent on the river. Kaliya had also poisoned the waters of Yamuna. The people of Vraja felt helpless and had no option but to live with the menace of this snake.
One day Krishna was playing with his cowherd-friends on the banks of Yamuna and he deliberately threw his ball in Yamuna. Then on the pretext of retrieving the ball he jumped in the river. This disturbed Kaliya and the angry snake attacked Krishna. A furious fight ensued under water and the two rose to the surface while still engaged in fight. Krishna had been more than a match to Kaliya and he felt his energy ebbing away.
Krishna suddenly jumped and landed on one of Kaliya’s hoods. Kaliya tried to bite him with another hood and Krishna jumped again and climbed that very hood. This way whichever hood Kaliya tried to attack Krishna with, he would jump and position himself on the same hood. And on whichever hood Krishna would be, he would dance and hit Kaliya’s hood with his toes. That caused immense pain to the snake and eventually all his hoods started bleeding. Kaliya got excessively tired and was gradually losing strength to fight Krishna and a lot of blood too.
Finally his wives ( who had been kind to Krishna and tried to warn him of Kaliya’s anger when they saw him first) appealed to Krishna to forgive him and spare his life. They recognised Krishna as the supreme Narayana who had incarnated to rid Bhumi Devi (goddess earth) of her sufferings. Kaliya – his arrogance and anger gone – beseeched Krishna to forgive him and give him refuge.
Krishna accepted their prayers and ordered Kaliya to leave Yamuna forever and return to the sea, his original abode. Since Krishna danced on the hoods of Kaliya, he is called Kaliya Nartana Krishna or the Krishna who danced on Kaliya’s hoods. This event is also a very popular theme among bronze sculptors of Tamil Nadu and this Chola Style Kaliya Nartan Krishna is one of such beautiful bronze idols.
This idol depicts the moment when Krishna accepts Kaliya’s prayers of mercy and is pleased. He is seen with his left foot placed on one of Kaliya’s hoods and right foot raised. He is holding snake’s tail with his left hand and his right hand is raised in abhaya mujra or the pose granting fearlessness or protection.
Kaliya is five-hooded and has appeared in a divine form, requesting Krishna with folded hands. Krishna is bedecked in beautiful jewels and his hair is tied up in the shape of a crown studded with jewels. This is called jatamakutam. The idol is richly carved in traditional Chola iconography. This is indeed a very handsome idol of Kaliya Nartana Krishna.
Special Comments
This is one of the very traditional themes of Chola bronze statutary.
This statue is cast hollow to keep a check on unwanted weight.