One of the most widely revered and most popular of all Indian divinities, is Krishna worshipped as the eighth incarnation (avatar) of Vishnu. Krishna became the focus of a large number of devotional cults, which over the centuries have produced a wealth of religious poetry, music, painting and sculpture.
As a youth, the cowherd Krishna became renown as a lover, the sound of his flute prompting gopis (wives and daughters of the cowherds) to leave their homes to dance ecstatically with him in the forests. His favorite among the daughters of the cowherders was the beautiful Radha. Krishna's youthful dalliances with the gopis are interpreted as symbolic of the loving interplay between God and the human soul.Krishna affirms life in his pranks, music and lovemaking.
His childhood phase was spent in Gokula under the parentage of Nanda and Yasoda. Till the age of 8-9, he proved to the villagers that he is not an ordinary boy by killing various demons and doing other extraordinary things. Among these was the most popular Raas lila with the girls of village also known as Gopis. God Krishna enjoyed his rasa dance also known as dance of love. This dance normally occurs in autumn season at night under a full moon where, Lord Krishna used to captivate the young gopis with his flute.
The rich variety of legends associated with Krishna's life led to an abundance of representation in painting. The divine lover (the most common representation) is shown playing the flute, is the call of Divine, inviting all creatures to rejoin God in eternal bliss. His affair with Radha accentuates the linkage between the human sould and the Divine.
