Dishita Mutthe

English 10

October 16, 2022

Writing About Art – Krishna Killing The Horse-Demon Keshi

Initially looking at this terracotta sculpture, I saw how it depicts a male subject, who

appears to be young Krishna. He is wearing a loin-cloth around his waist, which is tied in a knot

on his right side and he is shirtless. His hair is in a bun on top of his head; however, there is a

strand of hair that is falling on his right shoulder, which I noticed later. After looking at this

artwork multiple times, I began to notice the jewelry he is wearing. He is wearing very large

circular earrings with a wheel pattern in the center. He is also wearing a matching necklace,

which is very thick and has a large round locket with the same wheel pattern.

He is up in the air while his left foot is pushing into the stomach of an animal that has a

lot of resemblance to a pig because of its snout; however, I later came to see that this animal was

a horse-demon. The horse-demon is standing up on two legs and its mouth is wide open.

Krishna’s left elbow is thrusting down the throat of this animal while its teeth are digging into

the flesh of his arm. It has a demonic look on its face while attacking the subject, with its eyes

wide open. Krishna has a fierce, strong expression on his face, with his eyebrows slightly raised

and mouth open. His right arm and right leg are cut in half and are missing from his body.

Underneath the fight between the two main subjects, there is another horse-demon. However,

this one is lying on its back with its four legs in the air.

This artwork is the sculpture of Krishna Killing the Horse Demon Keshi, an ancient

sculpture made around the 5th Century. This piece of art was created by a North Indian sculptor
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during the Gupta Dynasty, which was also the Classical Era of Indian Art. The main subject,

Krishna, is an avatar of Vishnu, the god of preservation. Krishna is often depicted wearing heavy

jewelry to appear more divine and godly. He appears on Earth as a warrior-king who frees his

people from any demonic threats. This sculpture captures the moment where Krishna slayed the

horse-demon, named Keshi. Below Krishna and Keshi, there is a dead horse with 3 balls of dung

next to it, which were emitted when the horse died. The dead horse-demon reflects the aftermath

of the battle. The significance of this sculpture was to serve as a reminder on the importance of

horse sacrifices, also known as Ashvamedha, in Indian Vedic cult practices (The Met Museum);

Ashvamedha was significant during this time period because it was a ritual that was done by the

king to celebrate his authority and superiority, while also “ensuring the prosperity of the entire

kingdom” (Britannica).

During the Gupta Dynasty, temple building began and their walls were often decorated

with similar kinds of terracotta sculptures where Krishna was the main subject (The Met

Museum). The Gupta began building temples so priests and individuals could give offerings to

sacred relics that represented particular gods (Cartwright). Other plaques depicted Krishna lifting

Mount Godhavarnam (The Cleveland Museum of Art), or Krishna in the form of other gods.

Some of Krishna’s sculptures depict him as a god with immense strength when defeating evil,

while others display his love because he is also the god of tenderness and love (Sethi).
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Works Cited

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "ashvamedha". Encyclopedia Britannica, 30

Jul. 2020, https://www.britannica.com/topic/ashvamedha.

Cartwright, Mark. “Gupta Architecture”. World History Encyclopedia. 22 May. 2015,

https://www.worldhistory.org/Gupta_Architecture/

Sethi, Cristin. Representations of Krishna. 2022,

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-asia/south-asia/south-asia-intro/a/representations-o

f-krishna

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Krishna Lifting Mount Govardhan.

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1973.106

The Met Museum. Krishna Killing the Horse Demon Keshi.

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/3851