The garlanded white cow is the oldest continuous image in Indian art. It appears on cave walls, in Warli village painting, on temple cloths at Nathdwara, and on UPSKARA's border panels.
The first images
Long before temples, cattle were painted on rock at Bhimbetka in ochre and white. They were painted as wealth, as food, as the centre of the herd's life. The animal has never left Indian painting since.
Kamdhenu and Gokul
In the Pichwai tradition the cow is Kamdhenu, the wish-fulfilling mother, and the herd of Gokul is Krishna's own. Cows are painted white, garlanded, with gold on the horns and hand-prints of turmeric on the flank. They walk through lotus ponds toward the deity.
Reading the motif
A single cow facing the deity is devotion. A herd walking home at dusk, gopashtami, is abundance and return. Cows among lotuses combine two of the most auspicious images in the tradition, which is why they anchor so many UPSKARA pieces.
In the home
A cow-and-lotus border reads as welcome above a doorway and as calm along a dining wall. Placed in a pooja corner it belongs to the oldest possible use of the image.
Questions people ask
Why are Pichwai cows white?
White is the colour of Kamdhenu and of purity in the tradition; the gold ornaments and turmeric hand-prints mark the animal as blessed.
Which rooms suit cow motifs?
Entrances, dining rooms and temple corners. The motif carries meanings of welcome, plenty and devotion.
