Written by the famous poet Jayadev in 12th century CE, Gita Govinda is a medieval literary work. In Gita Govind, Jayadev has described the love of Radha and Krishna with great devotion and has made the love of God a reality to humankind. It also describes love life of Krishna with other Gopis or corherd maidens in vrindavan. The entire work of Gita Govinda has been divided into various chapters, each of them contains a group of eight couplets that have been termed as the Ashtapadis. In this great work, there are twelve moods of Lord Krishna and also the Dashavatar of Lord Vishnu, that associates this literary work to the Vaishnav sect. The Basohli paintings emerged around the Basohli region of Jammu and Kashmir, by intermingling of the folk style with the mughal miniature styles. Basically, the dresses are influenced by Mughal art whereas the facial features have characteristics of local folk art. Gita Govind was painted by artist Manaku in 1730 under the patronage of princess of Basohli- Malini. Manaku was one of the most celebrated artists in pahadi school and was a native of Guler. In the above painting, poet Jayadev is depicted worshipping Radha and Krishna with great devotion. A colour combination of hot colours including yellow, orange, brown and red and their shades have been vibrantly used. Radha and Krishna are shown wearing heavy ornaments. The background is flat and monochrome with a predominant tree playing a vital role in the painting. The border is made of bold red colour with a brown inner boundary in the painting. The entire work of Gita Govind still remains are one of the most legendary works by Manaku.

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