Page from a Ragamala Series: Khambhavati Ragini (Primary Title)
Unidentified (Artist)
Khambhavati Ragini, the second wife of Malkos Raga, is personified as a lady venerating the four-headed Hindu creator god Brahma. The example on the left is from the western Rajasthani court of Bikaner, whose atelier, perhaps more than any other, drew from the style of Mughal painting. Though their palatial surroundings, strewn with ritual vessels, are quite simplified, the figures are painted with remarkable naturalism. Delicate shading lends their bodies volume, and their faces are so realistic that hers might be a portrait of one of Bikaner’s court ladies.
Painting at the court of Kota, in eastern Rajasthan, was also influenced by Mughal conventions but retained a greater proportion of pre-Mughal vivacity. The painting on the right is a direct descendant of its subject in an important late- 16th century ragamala made by painters trained in the Mughal atelier. Its compositions—down to details like the peacock, the fluttering pennant, and the animal-shaped gargoyle—were copied by generations of Kota painters, this repetition gradually simplifying their forms. Compared to the Bikaner picture, its figures are considerably less lifelike and detailed, architectural perspective has been flattened, and the palette is anything but subtle.
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