hich explains the vast expansion of painting which now occurred. Under
Sansar Chand's stimulus artists began to portray every situation involving
Krishna, the cowherd. He was shown as a baby crying for the moon, being
washed by his foster-mother, Yasoda, or mischievously breaking pitchers
full of curds. He would be painted strolling with the cowherds, playing on
his flute, or bringing the cattle home at evening. But the main theme to
which the artists constantly returned was his main cowgirl love. Radha
would be shown standing with Krishna in the forest, gazing trustfully into
his eyes, seeking shelter with him from the rain or sitting with him by a
stream.[112] Sometimes she and the cowgirls were shown celebrating the
spring festival of Holi, Krishna syringing them with tinted water while
they themselves strove to return his onslaughts by throwing red
powder.[113] Often the scene would shift from the forest to the village,
and Krishna would then be shown gazing at Radha as she dried herself after
bathing or squatted in a courtyard cooking food. At other times he
appeared assisting her at her toilet, helping her to dress her hair or
applying a beauty mark to her forehead. If the scene was night itself,
Radha would be shown sitting in her chamber, while far away across the
courtyards and gardens would loom the small figure of Krishna waiting
lonely on a bed. Occasionally the lovers would be portrayed expressing
their rapture by means of simple gestures. Krishna's arm would be shown
placed lovingly around Radha's shoulders, or Radha herself would be
portrayed hiding her head on Krishna's breast.[114] In all these pictures,
the style had an innocent and exquisite clarity, suggesting by its simple
unaffected naturalism the artists' delight in Krishna's character, their
appreciation of the feminine mind, their sense of sex as inherently noble
and their association of romance with God himself.

It is in a series of illustrations to certain texts, however, that Kangra
painting reaches its greatest heights. Among the many artists employed by
Sansar Chand, a certain Purkhu was notable for his 'remarkable clearness
of tone and delicacy of handling,'[115] 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. The subject was the tenth book
of the _Bhagavata Purana_ and the scenes illustrated ranged from Krishna's
birth and adventures wi