Early Giithaa sculptures

[K. S. Arjunwadkar]

At 12:20 PM 12/23/98 -0800, you wrote:
>20th century Indian homes are filled with the
>pictures/handicrafts of Krishna and Arjuna on
>a chariot drawn by horses? How old is this
>art motif?
>
>Is it created aftr Giithaa's rise to the position
>of the Hindu equivalent of Bible and Koran?
>Or, does this have an earlier representation?
>How old is this in Indian art?
>
>For Krishna in the South, usually he is
>Baalakrishna with butter or Kaaliyamardana, etc.,
>In Pahari or Rajput paintings, it is the
>lover, Krishna with Radha. In Gupta art,
>I don't recall any of Giithopadesham.
>
>Are there any old representations of Krishna
>preaching to Arjuna in Indian art? How old these
>go back?
>
>My recollection is it is very rare, not the
>position portrayed by Neohindus now. Is this correct?
>
>Regards,
>N. Ganesan
>
>
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Dec 24, 1998

Dear Member,
A possible source of knowing how old such illustrations are is the
illustrated manuscripts preserved in Indological institutes such as the
Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute of Pune. Dr Dominic Wujastic who is
in charge of such a collection may be able to throw light on this topic. I
have myself seen illustrated Mss of other works (e. g. the Bhaagavata
Puraana), if not of the Giitaa, which are fairly old. I do not find
anything neo-Hindu in the pictures you have referred to.
KSA