The Churning of the Ocean of Milk

Despite the appearance of serenity, this painting of the “Churning of the Sea of Milk” (Mandara Giri) reveals a moment of utter devastation. For fear of losing their strength, the gods look to Vishnu, who advises that only the nectar (amrita) which resides at the bottom of the celestial sea of milk can make them immortal. Too weak to accomplish the task on their own, Vishnu urges them to work together with the demons. In a tug of war using the snake, Vasuki, as their rope and Mount Mandara as their churning stick, they pull back and forth for a thousand years, the demons holding Vasuki’s head, and the gods, his tail. The force of the churning causes the mountain to begin to sink, so Vishnu assumes the form of a huge turtle (Kurma) and, like an island, supports the mountain on his back. Valuable gifts materialized from the churning. In the upper center, Indra sits on top of the mountain, granting rain to cool the overheated demons (daitya). Underneath him, three goddesses emerge from the churning together with a white horse, Uchaisrawa. In the center is Gangga, on the right is Pertiwi, gifting holy water to the demons, and on the left is Sri, offering gold to the gods. Underneath, Vishnu chases Varuna who has tried to interfere in the process. On the mountain and in the sea, a variety of sea creatures suffer in the oppressive heat. The beloved clowns (punakawan) stand in the boiling water: Twalen and Mredah (left), and Delem and Sangut (right). The gods watch from above (from center left, top row): Siwa, Bayu, Brahma, Kubera, and Sambu; (middle row) Vishnu, Ludra, Dharma, Sengkara, and Gana; and (bottom row) Iswara, Semara, Agni, Mahadewa, and Varuna.