th demons to his frolics with the cowgirls and
final slaughter of Kansa. Purkhu's style--if Purkhu is indeed the master
responsible--is remarkable for its luminous clarity, its faint suggestions
of modelling, and above all for its natural use of rhythm. In every
scene,[116] cowherds appear engaged in different tasks, yet throughout
there is a sense of oneness with Krishna himself. Krishna is shown
delighting all by his simple friendliness and dignified charm and the
style itself endows each scene with gentle harmony.

Purkhu was clearly one of the greatest artists ever to practise in the
Punjab Hills, but it is a certain Kushala who is supposed to have been
Sansar Chand's special favourite. We do not know which pictures are by his
hand but there exist two series of illustrations of such distinctive
quality that Kushala may well have been responsible.[117] One is a series
of paintings illustrating part of Bihari's _Sat Sai_--the seven-hundred
poems in which he extolled Krishna's love-making.[118] The other is yet
another version of the _Gita Govinda_ where Krishna is shown consorting
with the cowgirls in blissful abandon.[119] In both these series, the
inherent loveliness of Radha and the cowgirls is expressed by supple
flowing line, a flair for natural posture and the inclusion of poetic
images. The scarlet of a cowgirl's skirt is echoed by the redness of a
gathering storm, the insertion of Krishna into the background suggesting
the passionate nature of their imminent embraces.[120] In a similar way,
the forest itself is 'threaded with phases of passion' and slender trees
in flower parallel the slim romantic girls who long for Krishna's love.

One other Kangra master remains to be mentioned. Besides the pictures
already noted, there exists a further series illustrating the tenth book
of the _Bhagavata Purana_. The artist's identity is once again uncertain,
but just as the Garhwal master was fascinated by the swirl of curling
water, the Kangra artist in question delighted in the blonde pallor of
the Indian moon.[121] Each incident in the text is rendered as if in
moonlight--a full moon riding in the sky, its pale reflection shining in
water, the countryside itself bathed throughout in frosty whiteness. As a
result the figures of Radha and the cowgirls seem imbued with pallid
glamour, their love for Krishna with an almost unearthly radiance.

Kangra painting continued throughout the nineteenth century but it was
only dur