- Title
- Punyaki Ragini, Fourth Wife of Bhairava Raga, Folio from a Ragamala (Garland of Melodies)
- Date Made
- circa 1700
- Period
- 18th century
- Medium
- Opaque watercolor and gold on paper
- Dimensions
- Image: 9 1/4 x 6 1/2 in. (23.5 x 16.51 cm); Sheet: 10 1/2 x 7 3/4 in. (26.67 x 19.69 cm)
- Accession Number
- AC1999.127.7
- Collecting Area
- South and Southeast Asian Art
- Curatorial Notes
The reverse of this painting is inscribed in Takri as Punaki (Punyaki) Ragini and in Devanagari as Puravi Ragini. The apparent disparity in names is resolved through an analysis of the painting's iconography, which corroborates the former identification. Both inscriptions, however, label it correctly as the wife of Bhairava Raga, no. 4 (in the raga's family). Punyaki Ragini is a wife of Bhairava Raga according to the Kshemakarna System of classification, in which the melody is compared to the sound of rushing water (verse 107). The term "punya" means the earning of religious merit through charity. Consequently, as Indian religious ceremonies often involve the pouring of consecrated water over a holy man's hands, representations of Punyaki Ragini frequently show the woman of the house or palace pouring water over an ascetic’s hands (a ritual symbolic of giving).
Here, rather than pouring water over the mendicant’s hands, the woman is shown dropping coins into his alms bowl. Nevertheless, the underlying rationale is the same, as it is still a charitable act being portrayed. Indeed, other iconographic variations are known, including the offering to the mendicant of a piece of jewelry or even a sheaf of barley. The painting features the common Bilaspur stylistic characteristics of a long spiraling lock of hair in place of a sideburn for the ascetic, slightly stunted figures, a substantial depiction of brickwork, and a distinctive sultry palette.
- Selected Bibliography
- Pal, Pratapaditya; Markel, Stephen; Leoshko, Janice. Pleasure Gardens of the Mind: Indian Paintings from the Jane Greenough Green Collection. Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Mapin Publishing Pvt. Ltd.: Los Angeles, 1993.
