Page from a Ragamala Series: Shankara Ragaputra (Primary Title)
Unknown (Artist)
Shankara Ragaputra—described by Kshemakarna as Megha’s eighth son—is the last member of this family trio from a subtly refined Punjab Hill’s ragamala. Typical of Shankara’s iconography, a devotee worships at a Shiva temple, not unlike Bhairavi Ragini on the gallery’s opposite wall. The devotee pours water from a golden jug on the god’s symbolic sculptural representation, while ringing a bell with his other hand. The lustrations flow over the stone image—strewn with beautiful-but-toxic Datura blossoms—and exit the shrine through a tiger-faced drain into a square, silvery pool. The explosion of greenery and flowers around the white temple is a visual metaphor for Shiva’s divine potency and a reminder of the Megha cycle’s association with the life-giving monsoon season.
Some object records are not complete and do not reflect VMFA's full and current knowledge. VMFA makes routine updates as records are reviewed and enhanced.
