Important Notice

Chamba, Pahari School
Circa 1760
Natural pigments on paper heightened with gold
8.75 x 6.25 in (22.5 x 16 cm)

NON-EXPORTABLE REGISTERED ANTIQUITY

PROVENANCE
Formerly in the Collection of Jagdish and Kamla Mittal



Malashri Ragini is personified as the third wife of Raga Bhairava, one of the six main Ragas in the Ragamala series. Ragamala paintings were one of the most popular secular subjects depicted in the pictorial tradition of Indian art. Ragamala is a complex tripartite artform which developed from Raga or a framework of musical notes to poetry and their subsequent visualisation through court paintings.

In the musical tradition, Malashri Ragini is sung from dawn to dusk and here it is depicted as a solitary nayika (heroine) waiting for her beloved by holding a lotus in her hand. In other versions, she is usually depicted with her friends playing a game, plucking lotus petals and guessing whether her lover would arrive or not. Here she is shown standing on a balcony, outside a palatial building with a column, a slanting roof with lotus patterns, a door covered with red blinds and a rolled curtain. A marble balustrade is seen along the edge of the balcony. The background is a bright red which does not indicate a particular time of day when it is sung or played. The nayika is shown wearing a pink jama (coat) and a mauve translucent dupatta (veil) with gold, red dangling earrings, and pearl jewellery. The index finger of her right‒hand rests on her chin in contemplation. Brown tiles in the balcony perhaps indicate wooden flooring while a dark blue border balances the bright red background and grey wall of the building.

Chamba, Pahari School
Circa 1760
Natural pigments on paper heightened with gold
8.75 x 6.25 in (22.5 x 16 cm)

NON-EXPORTABLE REGISTERED ANTIQUITY

PROVENANCE
Formerly in the Collection of Jagdish and Kamla Mittal



Malashri Ragini is personified as the third wife of Raga Bhairava, one of the six main Ragas in the Ragamala series. Ragamala paintings were one of the most popular secular subjects depicted in the pictorial tradition of Indian art. Ragamala is a complex tripartite artform which developed from Raga or a framework of musical notes to poetry and their subsequent visualisation through court paintings.

In the musical tradition, Malashri Ragini is sung from dawn to dusk and here it is depicted as a solitary nayika (heroine) waiting for her beloved by holding a lotus in her hand. In other versions, she is usually depicted with her friends playing a game, plucking lotus petals and guessing whether her lover would arrive or not. Here she is shown standing on a balcony, outside a palatial building with a column, a slanting roof with lotus patterns, a door covered with red blinds and a rolled curtain. A marble balustrade is seen along the edge of the balcony. The background is a bright red which does not indicate a particular time of day when it is sung or played. The nayika is shown wearing a pink jama (coat) and a mauve translucent dupatta (veil) with gold, red dangling earrings, and pearl jewellery. The index finger of her right‒hand rests on her chin in contemplation. Brown tiles in the balcony perhaps indicate wooden flooring while a dark blue border balances the bright red background and grey wall of the building.