Madhumadhavai Ragini: Page from a Dispersed Ragamala Series (Garland of Musical Modes)

The text of this Ragini tells of peacocks that cry at the threat of rain—here shown in the roiling black horizon and blue lines. Thinking that the peacock’s cry comes from hunger, a lady offers food. The audience would have also understood allusions to Nayikabheda poetry in which the abhisarika nayika (a heroine) travels at night in a storm to meet her lover. The figure type and color palette are distinctly Marwari, while the flattened architecture and color fields are characteristics shared with Malwa painting.

Ink and opaque watercolor on paper

Overview

Creator : 

Anonymous

Collection : 

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Date :

1640–50

Rights :

CC0

Copyright-free

You can copy, modify, distribute and perform the work, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission.

Creative Commons

You can :

remix /  adapt this work even for commercial purposes, as long as you :

  • give appropriate credit and
  • license new creations under the identical terms.


Creative Commons

You can remix, adapt, and build upon this work, even commercially, as long as you:

  • credit the original creation. 


Creative Commons

Explore More