Visualisation of Ragas

[Vedprakash]

By: Harsha V Dehejia
on Feb 16, 2013

The evolution of ragas commenced when the devout heart felt the need
to sing, rather than chant, the hymns of the Vedas. Ragas took on
different visages and were even given a pictorial form. The fifth
century text Narada Shiksha refers to the close association of sound
and sentiment, and this is considered to be the origin of the
tradition of Ragamala paintings.


As ragas proliferated, various taxonomies were developed to group
these ragas. One of them was to regard ragas as a family with
masculine ragas, feminine raginis and raga putras. It is these visual
forms of music that are sought to be portrayed in the Ragamala
paintings.


Miniature Paintings

Ragamala paintings depict a ragini in visual terms, employing the
style and technique of Rajasthani and Pahadi miniature paintings. The
Ragamala painters sought inspiration from the romantic Krishna lore,
the barahmasa genre of poetry as well as the precincts of the princely
courtyards.

While some paintings are religious in their imagery and others show
deeds of heroism, most Ragamala paintings evoke shringara rasa or the
romantic mood. While the principal figures are the nayaka and nayika,
of equal importance are the objects which enhance the mood and
symbolise various aspects of romance.

Epitome Of Beauty

Two earthenware jars hold cool water and represent the sensuous beauty
of a female. Buzzing bees symbolise the passion of lovers and lotus
blossoms are an epitome of beauty. Rain is the season when the Rajput
warriors as well as the merchants return home and it is, therefore,
the season of love. With rain comes lightning, which becomes the
expression of passion. The peacock, with its display of colour, evokes
the mating dance of the male. The bed chamber, with its empty bed and
bolsters, further suggests the joys of love-making. A platter of paan
and other condiments, garlands and sandalwood paste are useful
accessories in a romantic rendezvous.

Apart from these generic elements of the shringara rasa, specific
ragas and raginis of the romantic mood call for definite visual
manifestations.

A lady, at her toilet, adorning herself with jewellery is a sign of
anticipation and depicts Raga Bilaval.

A nayika feeding a deer is a lovesick woman singing a lonely tune and
is reminiscent of Raga Todi.

A thunderstorm, with the cry of peacocks and birds gathering for
shelter in trees, evokes the fear and longing of a nayika, as she
finds comfort in feeding a peacock and this is suggestive of Ragini
Madhumadhavi.

When evening ends and darkness descends, the nayika lights a lamp and
waits for her beloved; it is the setting for Ragini Dipak.

To lessen the pangs of viraha, a nayika plays on the veena and
composes a song and it evokes Gurjari Ragini.

When she makes a bed of flowers for her lover, it creates the mood of
Ragini Gormalar.

A woman, startled by the cry of the cuckoo and deriving comfort in the
company of peacocks, is the mood of Kakubha Ragini.

When a virahini is surrounded by snakes, she is Ragini Asavari.

Lyrical Visuals As Idiom

While Ragamala paintings may not be the most perfect visualisation of
music, they do create a beautiful, warm and lyrical visual form of the
ragini and remain a unique idiom in Indian art.