The depiction of Kaliya Mardan, the subduing of the poisonous thousand hooded serpent Kaliya by the blue god Krishna, finds a privileged place in the annals of art. This iconic episode narrated in the Mahabharata and the Puranas has been richly visualised in the 11th century Chola bronze as well as later Rajput miniatures, granted a new modernist aesthetics by Raja Ravi Verma, reproduced and reprinted in calendar art for mass circulation and remains acclaimed as the subject of the eponymous early silent film by the veteran director Phalke.
When contemporary artist Seema Kohli renders the mythological tale in her quintessential style, she transforms the heroic tale into a phantasmagorical and playful encounter between the treacherous Kaliya —half-human, half- serpent being — and the fearless child Krishna. Reimagined in hues of lemony yellow, murky chromes and lurid blues, the dance of Krishna over the subdued snake is told using the continuous style of narration. The figures of Krishna and Kaliya appear thrice in various stages of combat with Krishna finally mounting Kaliya to signal his triumph over evil. Celestial maidens and winged goddesses appear to celebrate Krishna’s victory while the many sorrowful wives of Kaliya plead for mercy with folded hands.
As the golden- scaled Kaliya cohesively connects the three battle scenes, it also leads the viewers beyond the frame of action as it seemingly transforms into the divine snake Ananta- Shesha. It is on this coiled king of serpents that Vishnu, the preserver in the Hindu triad and whose eighth avatar is Krishna, rests. Two principal moods emerge; the dramatic, action-packed fight that plays out in the swirling, turbulent and poisonous water on the left and the calm, oceanic bliss of blue Nara water on the right. The dead yellow river and its decaying marine life is gently contrasted with the abundant vitality of living forms in the blue ocean.
The story goes that the mighty Kaliya-naga dwelled in the deepest aquatic underworld of Kalindi River (Yamuna) and created much havoc in the lives of the village folks by spilling poison in the water. One day however, Krishna decided to teach him a lesson and while playing with his friends intentionally threw a ball in the forbidden river. As Krishna dived in to retrieve the lost ball, he encountered the giant serpent and subjugated him to dance on his hood. The overpowered Kaliya realising the Leela of Krishna, the avatar of Vishnu, was repentant and at once begged for forgiveness. He vindicated how Kalindi was the lone river free of the snake-eating Garuda and how spilling poison was a defence rather than an offensive strategy. Kaliya was let off with a warning to never wade the waters of Kalindi again, a promise he kept forever.
While Krishna is oft celebrated as the hero of the narrative and Kaliya denounced as the villain, for Kohli every being is a part of the Supreme Consciousness and is undeniably divine. Both hero and villain, within Hindu theological conception, are pre-ordained to teach us mortals a valuable lesson. Kaliya willingly surrenders himself to Krishna in his desire to be freed from his wretched existence. Kaliya’s repentance evident in his truth frees us from binary thinking; imagining the world in polarised opposites of good or bad, virtuous or evil. Kaliya was after all not full of vice, holding much good within him; and neither were his deeds representative of all nagas. In Hindu mythology, Nagas and Nagins have been variously interpreted as wise guardians and powerful protectors as in the case of Naga Muchalinda, demonic and dangerous such as Kaliya, or as companion of Gods represented by Ananta- Shesha and Vasuki.
In the universal drama of life, the one who repents, the one who seeks the truth is an equal hero. There is little wonder then that Kohli reimagines the subduing of Kaliya instead as Kaliya’s awakening. The glory of Kaliya is further exalted in the bronze naga sculpture that quite literally holds the painting and very poignantly the narrative together.
Artwork and Concept : Seema Kohli
Text : Habiba Insaf
