Illustration to a Ragamala Series: Bangal Ragini (Primary Title)
Unknown (Artist)
Among the most popular subjects painted by Central Indian artists were Ragamalas (Garlands of Ragas). Created in sets, these paintings are pictorializations of ragas, melodies associated with moods, seasons, and times of day. There was considerable variation, both by poets and by painters, as to how specific ragas should be personified. Bangal Ragini, pictured here, was described alternatively as a lady or a male ascetic, most often worshipping or meditating. Ambiguous in gender, the protagonist here is depicted in the courtyard of palatial structure, reciting mantras from the leaves of a book, while an attendant watches from a door into the building. The painting’s colorful variegation, along with animating features such as the lotus pond, homing pigeons, and diagonal awning, enliven the otherwise relatively flat, static pictorial space.
Verso:
In Nastaʿliq script at the top: bangāl
In Nagari script: Vangalrāgīnī (sic) Bangālrāginī
Bottom line: in Nastaʿliq script: rāg bherun (sic) Bhairun
(From Rich Cohen, 21 May 2020)
Friends of Indian Art in memory of Ranjit Sen
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