Ragamala paintings

''. Sirohi, c. 1700. Cleveland Museum of Art Sangita Ratnakara is an important 12th century CE treatise on the classification of Indian Ragas, which for the first time mentions the presiding deity of each raga. From the 14th century onwards, they were described in short verses in Sanskrit, for dhyana, 'contemplation', and later depicted in a series of paintings, called the Ragamala paintings. Some of the best available works of Ragamala are from the 16th and 17th centuries, when the form flourished under royal patronage, though by the 19th century, it gradually faded. ==Extant works==

''. Mughal, c. 1750. Salar Jung Museum In 1570, Kshemakarna, a priest of Rewa in Central India, compiled a poetic text on the Ragamala in Sanskrit, which describes six principal Ragas—Bhairava, Malakoshika, Hindola, Deepak, Shri, and Megha—each having five Raginis and eight Ragaputras, except Raga Shri, which has six Raginis and nine Ragaputras, thus making a Ragamala family of 86 members Most of the extant works of Ragamala are from Deccan style, where Ibrahim Adil Shah II of Bijapur, was himself also a fine painter and illustrator, though some Rajput style also exist of which the work of an artist of the 'Chawand' (a part of Mewar) school of painting, Sahibdin, whose Ragamala (musical modes) series dated 1628, are now in National Museum of India. Ragamala sets discovered in Odisha are in the Pattachitra style, based on the ragas of Odissi music and show distinct iconography and raga groups from other regions. ==The Ragas in Ragamala==

Six are male (parent) ragas; the thirty raginis are their wives and the remaining forty-eight are their sons. These are listed is as follows: • (1) Parent Raga: Bhairav raga Wives: Bhairavi, Bilawali, Punyaki, Bangali, Aslekhi. Sons: Pancham, Harakh, Disakh, Bangal, Madhu, Madhava, Lalit, Bilaval. • (2) Parent Raga: Malkaus raga Wives: Gaundkari, Devagandhari, Gandhari, Seehute, Dhanasri. Sons: Maru, Mustang, Mewara, Parbal, Chand, Khokhat, Bhora, Nad. • (3) Parent Raga: Hindol raga Wives: Telangi, Devkari, Basanti, Sindhoori, Aheeri. Sons: Surmanand, Bhasker, Chandra-Bimb, Mangalan, Ban, Binoda, Basant, Kamoda. • (4) Parent Raga: Deepak raga Wives: Kachheli, Patmanjari, Todi, Kamodi, Gujri. Sons: Kaalanka, Kuntal, Rama, Kamal, Kusum, Champak, Gaura, Kanra [36]. • (5) Parent Raga: Sri raga Wives: Bairavi, Karnati, Gauri, Asavari, Sindhavi. Sons: Salu, Sarag, Sagra, Gaund, Gambhir, Gund, Kumbh, Hamir. • (6) Parent Raga: Megh raga Wives: Sorath, Gaundi-Malari, Asa, Gunguni, Sooho. Sons: Biradhar, Gajdhar, Kedara, Jablidhar, Nut, Jaldhara, Sankar, Syama. ==Gallery==

File:Bhairavi Ragini.jpg|Bhairavi Ragini. Possibly Mewar, c. 1550. Victoria and Albert Museum File:Gauri Ragini, First Wife of Malkos Raga, Folio from a Ragamala, 1575-1600, LACMA.jpg|Gauri Ragini. Probably Ahmadnagar, c. 1575-1600. Los Angeles County Museum of Art File:1 Shaykh Husayn. Malkausik Raga Page from the Chunar Ragamala Manuscript, dated February 24, 1591, Metmuseum.jpg|Malkausik Raga, folio from the Chunar Ragamala, dated February 24, 1591. Private collection, New York File:Sahibdin 001.jpg|Dipak Raga, folio from the Chawand Ragamala by Nasiruddin. Mewar, 1605. G.K. Kanoria Collection File:Indischer Maler um 1625 001.jpg|Ragini Bhairavi. Bundi, c. 1625. Allahabad Museum File:Nisaradi 001.jpg|Lalit Ragini, folio from the Ragamala painted by Sahibdin. Mewar, 1628. National Museum, New Delhi File:Indischer Maler um 1650 (III) 001.jpg|Hindola Raga. Malwa, c. 1650. Bharat Kala Bhavan File:MET DP153180.jpg|Kedar Ragini, by Ruknuddin. Bikaner, c. 1690-1695. Metropolitan Museum of Art File:MET DP153192.jpg|Vasanti Ragini. Bilaspur, c. 1710. Metropolitan Museum of Art File:Raga Madhava, Folio from the Ragamala series.jpg|Raga Madhava, by the 2nd Master of the Shangri Ramayana series. Probably Bahu, c. 1720. Rietberg Museum File:Ragini Madhumadhavi - Girl flees from a storm.jpg|Ragini Madhumadhavi, by Jay Krishna. Malpura, c. 1756. Rietberg Museum File:The Musical Mode - Ragini Todi.jpg|Ragini Todi. Ascribed to a Master of the Second Generation after Nainsukh, c. 1825-30. Government Museum and Art Gallery, Chandigarh File:Two lovers, folio from a Ragamala album.jpg|Two lovers (possibly Kodaba Raga). Pigment on cloth, in the technique closely resembling that used in Odishan pattachitras. Odisha, circa 1850. Private collection ==References==