India, Bharat, 1700s
Putana
Teakwood
13 1/2 x 6 1/2 x 4 inches
Gift of the Jaipaul Family, 2001.
2001.022.014

This eighteenth-century carved teak relief from India portrays an episode from the life of Krishna, an avatar (incarnation) of the Hindu god Vishnu. It had been prophesied that Krishna would kill his evil uncle Kamsa. In an attempt to prevent this, Kamsa sent the demon Putana, disguised as a wet nurse, to kill him with her poisoned milk when he was still a baby. The young Krishna saw through the shape-shifting demon’s disguise, and killed her by sucking out her life force.