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Raasleela is considered as one of the most delightful, romantic and picturesque events in the life of Krishna. As an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, Krishna signifies and glorifies joy. The 10th chapter of the Bhagwata Purana discusses all his leelas during childhood and youth.
Episodes from Krishna’s youth, including the instances of his teasing, romancing, mesmerising and preaching the local lasses called gopikas have been collectively termed as the lord’s Raasleela. The Raasleela has been – and remains – a source of inspiration to poets and litterateurs for centuries. Surdas, an eminent Hindi poet who has written extensively about Krishna, says in a song, "Mohan Adbhut Rachayo Raas," which expresses the distinctiveness of raas as performed by Krishna. The legend behind the Raasleela, as per the Hindu mythology, was that Krishna was greatly loved by the gopikas. They used to get so immersed in his talks, antics, flute music and spiritual romanticism that they forgot all their worldly chores. They got together to perform a divine dance with Krishna, which popularly came to be known as the Raasleela. It was believed that Krishna duplicated himself to make pairs with all gopikas. Evidence has proved that the influence of Krishna was also prevalent over what is now the state of Haryana. The Raasleela, for example, has been found illustrated in several wall paintings and other art forms of Haryana. These have been found at spots like shivalayas, temples, maths, deras, havelis and chhatris. The wall paintings have been created with tempera technique, using earthly colours. This form of painting, which can be found at quite a number of places, indicates a circle or a chain of gopikas and Krishna holding one another’s hands. Wall paintings of Lord Krishna performing raas with gopikas have been found at shivalayas in Ajaib, Farmana Khas, Farmana Badshahpur and Saiman villages of Rohtak district. Faces with elongated eyes, moustaches on the Lord’s face, nose-rings on the gopikas’ faces and red ears of all figures are the highlighting features. Colours generally used in these pictures are red, green, yellow ochre, blue and white. At some places, big heads and other features, elongated eyes, sharp,long garments and a cloth tied on the waistline are highlighted, which is also a characteristic of Rajasthani paintings. The effect of the Muslim culture is also visible on dresses and moustaches. Bankey Bihari temple at Pabnava in Kaithal district carries a form of Raasleela on its wall. This wall painting is quite extraordinary from the point of view of its representation. Lord Krishna and Radha are shown standing in the centre, and around them 17 gopikas are standing in a circle. Such a composition has not been seen anywhere else in the state. The Asthal Bohar Math on the outskirts of Rohtak also has some images of Lord Krishna and gopikas performing raas. Their profiles have been depicted in this picture; large eyes, pointed nose and garments that clearly bring out the Rajasthani influence. Simplicity and sobriety is well preserved in this picture. The folds in the garments are highlighted with lines only; and there is usage of pearls in the jewellery. The colours used in this painting are yellow ochre, saffron, pink, grey and green. A dera at Sultanpur in Hisar district also has Raasleela scenes at two levels. Here, a central division can be seen on the ceiling and there are 29 images on each side. On the upper level, Lord Krishna and gopikas are shown playing Holi, performing dance and playing daph and dandiya. On the lower part, a chain of images has been shown. Along with other jewellery, the bajuband is also depicted in this picture, which is a unique feature of this place. Face profiles and usage of bright colours are prevalent. Then, there are several havelis that have scenes of Lord Krishna performing the Raasleela. One such haveli is located at Legha village in Bhiwani district. Here, Lord Krishna is performing raas with gopikas and he is shown with moustaches and a mor mukut. Inside the podium of a haveli, located at Nangal Sirohi village in Mahendragarh district, there is an image of Lord Krishna playing dandiya with Radha. Another such haveli is at Pehowa, in Kurukshetra district. This haveli has two such paintings; one is on the roof of three windows as viewed from outside, and the other painting is inside a portion of the haveli. Apart from these, several chhatris in the state also have depictions of Raasleela in painted forms. A chhatri in Bhiwani had a beautiful Raasleela painting inside it. The lower part of another chhatri at Kanina in Mahendragarh district also has a painting of a Raasleela, which contains as many as 96 images. Usage of a thin brush is observed in this miniature-style painting. Another miniature
painting obtained from Kurukshetra University library’s Bhagwad
Geeta manuscript also contains the image of Raasleela. In
this, Lord Krishna is shown from three directions; front, left and
right, while performing raas with gopikas. Two female
figurines are also shown standing on both sides.
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