Raja Ravi Varma's 'Yashoda and Krishna' Sells for Record Rs 167.20 Crore

• Raja Ravi Varma's oil painting "Yashoda and Krishna" sold for a record Rs 167.20 crore (USD 17,978,495) at Saffronart's Spring Live Auction.
• This makes it the highest-value work of modern Indian art ever sold at an auction, surpassing MF Husain's Untitled (Gram Yatra).
• The painting, estimated at Rs 80-120 crore, was acquired by Dr Cyrus S Poonawalla, managing director of the Serum Institute of India.
• Poonawalla expressed his privilege in acquiring the "national treasure" and plans to make it available for public viewing periodically.
• Painted in the 1890s, the work depicts maternal love through the mythological figures of infant Lord Krishna and his foster mother, Yashoda.