- Title
- Malkos Raga, Folio from a Ragamala (Garland of Melodies)
- Date Made
- circa 1670
- Medium
- Opaque watercolor, gold, and ink on paper
- Dimensions
- Sheet: 8 5/8 x 6 1/2 in. (21.91 x 16.51 cm); Image: 8 x 5 3/8 in. (20.32 x 13.65 cm)
- Accession Number
- M.83.105.12
- Collecting Area
- South and Southeast Asian Art
- Curatorial Notes
The devanagari inscription in the header identifies the melody as Malkos Raga and as number seven in the ragamala (garland of melodies) series, which is Malkos Raga’s sequence in the variant ragamala classification system followed in the princely state of Sirohi, Rajasthan. It is a sublime melody associated with midnight and late Winter (December–January). It is personified as a prince seated in a pavilion attended by a woman or women bearing an honorific fly whisk made from the white tail-hairs of a yak (cauri or chowri), symbolic of royalty. See also M.71.1.22.
Here, a prince and his consort are partaking of betel nut quids (pan) while seated in a pavilion bedchamber. She waves a fly whisk tipped with red. A peacock on the roof enjoys the music. The dark sky indicates it is a nighttime melody.
This is contemporaneous to M.71.1.20 but is from a different Sirohi ragamala series. Note the more angular profile, larger eyes, and variations in architectural detail.
- Selected Bibliography
- Rosenfield, John. The Arts of India and Nepal: The Nasli and Alice Heeramaneck Collection. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1966.
