Picture Details
Ragamala painting: ragini under a pomegranate tree
Partner:
British LibraryImage reference:
BL.Or.12857.f76Origin:
Deccan, IndiaArtist / Date:
Unknown, c.1570Size:
85 x 65 mmDescription:
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A raga is an Indian musical mode which evokes an emotion and creates a mood. Ragas have been classified into a variety of tonal frameworks and conceptualised in literature on music from medieval times. There are six `male' ragas, each with about six `wives' or raginis and sometimes also `sons' or ragaputras and `daughters-in-law'. The convention is that each raga delineates particular sentiments or rasas and that they are performed during certain seasons or times of day. This painting is from the Javahir al-Musikat or Jewels of Music, a work in Persian on Indian music and the mystical feelings evoked by it, in which ragas and raginis and hastabhinaya or hand-gestures are richly illustrated in the Deccani style. The long-limbed, slender and wasp-waisted ragini sits beneath a pomegranate tree, the fruit of which symbolise abundance and fertility. She is described as Bengali, which is a type of raga, but could also signify beautiful long-haired Bengali women who, like the pomegranate, evoke feelings of generosity and sweetness.
