Shri Raga, Folio from a Ragamala (Garland of Melodies)

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Shri Raga, Folio from a Ragamala (Garland of Melodies)

India, Rajasthan, Jaipur, circa 1850-1900
Drawings; watercolors
Opaque watercolor and gold on paper
Sheet: 10 5/8 x 7 3/4 in. (26.99 x 19.69 cm); Image: 6 5/16 x 3 7/8 in. (16.03 x 9.84 cm)
Gift of Jane Greenough Green in memory of Edward Pelton Green (AC1999.127.27)
Not currently on public view

Curator Notes

Shri Raga is the sixth raga in the in the predominant ragamala (garland of melodies) classification system generally known as the Rajasthani system....
Shri Raga is the sixth raga in the in the predominant ragamala (garland of melodies) classification system generally known as the Rajasthani system. It is a melancholic melody associated with late afternoon or early evening and Winter (December-January). The melody is envisioned here in this finally detailed painting as the blue-skinned crowned Krishna sitting with his consort Radha under an elegant textile awning on a terrace beside a white pavilion embellished with golden floral motifs. They are listening to a musical performance by a bearded musician, customarily identified as the legendary poet-saint Narada, and Tumburu, a horse-headed celestial singer and musician (gandharva). An attendant stands behind the divine couple holding an honorific peacock feather flywhisk (morchal). A lush garden blooms beyond the terrace railing. Poetic verses describing Shri Raga are inscribed in the header. See also M.70.59, M.73.59, and M.75.113.3.
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