Kaniya and Radha -1829

Engraving of Kaniya and Radha by L. Haghe, plate 10 from James Tod's 'Annals and antiquities of Rajast'han or the Central and Western Rajpoot States of India' published in London in 1829.

In the forest of Vrindavan the god Krishna used to play the flute and the gopis danced with him in ecstasy. Radha, Krishna's favourite gopi, represents the individual soul that is awakened to the love of God, symbolised by the sound of the flute that attracts the souls. According to Tod: 'I have often been struck with a characteristic analogy in the sculpture of the most ancient Saxon cathedrals in England and on the continent, to Kanyia and the Gopis. Both may be intended to represent divine harmony.'

Source : British Library